Pray for the church-4-i

⁷ 사랑하는 자들아 우리가 서로 사랑하자 사랑은 하나님께 속한것이니 사랑하는 자마다 하나님께로 나서 하나님을 알고

 ⁸ 사랑하지 아니하는 자는 하나님을 알지 못하나니 이는 하나님은 사랑이심이라 ⁹ 하나님의 사랑이 우리에게 이렇게 나타난 바 되었으니 하나님이 자기의 독생자를 세상에 보내심은 저로 말미암아 우리를 살리려 하심이니라 ¹⁰ 사랑은 여기 있으니 우리가 하나님을 사랑한 것이 아니요 오직 하나님이 우리를 사랑하사 우리 죄를 위하여 화목제로 그 아들을 보내셨음이니라 ¹¹ 사랑하는 자들아 하나님이 이같이 우리를 사랑하셨은즉 우리도 서로 사랑하는 것이 마땅하도다 ¹² 어느 때나 하나님을 본 사람이 없으되 만일 우리가 서로 사랑하면 하나님이 우리 안에 거하시고 그의 사랑이 우리 안에 온전히 이루느니라. ⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 Jn. 4:7-12 ESV)

¹⁴ 이러하므로 내가 하늘과 땅에 있는 각 족속에게 ¹⁵ 이름을 주신 아버지 앞에 무릎을 꿇고 비노니 ¹⁶ 그 영광의 풍성을 따라 그의 성령으로 말미암아 너희 속 사람을 능력으로 강건하게 하옵시며 ¹⁷ 믿음으로 말미암아 그리스도께서 너희 마음에 계시게 하옵시고 너희가 사랑 가운데서 뿌리가 박히고 터가 굳어져서 ¹⁸ 능히 모든 성도와 함께 지식에 넘치는 그리스도의 사랑을 알아 ¹⁹ 그 넓이와 길이와 높이와 깊이가 어떠함을 깨달아 하나님의 모든 충만하신 것으로 너희에게 충만하게 하시기를 구하노라 ²⁰ 우리 가운데서 역사하시는 능력대로 우리의 온갖 구하는 것이나 생각하는 것에 더 넘치도록 능히 하실 이에게 ²¹ 교회 안에서와 그리스도 예수 안에서 영광이 대대로 영원 무궁하기를 원하노라 아멘. ¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith-- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:14-21 ESV)

FCF: We tend to forget to pray for the spiritual well-being or unity of the church.

주제: 하나님은 우리가 구하는 것 이상으로 응답하시기에 교회를 위해 우리의 주권자 아버지께 기도해야 합니다.

Theme: Because God answers more than we ask, we must pray to our sovereign Father for the church.

Introduction: When Robert Louis Stevenson was a boy, he once remarked to his mother, "엄마, 기도하지 않고는 좋은 사람이 될 수 없어요." "Momma, you can't be good without praying." "어떻게 알았어요, 로버트?" "How do you know, Robert?" she asked. "제가 해봤으니까요!" "Because I've tried!" he answered. This brings to mind a story about another little fellow -- one who had been sent to his room because he had been bad. A short time later he came out and said to his mother, "제가 한 일에 대해 생각해 보고 기도를 드렸어요." "I've been thinking about what I did and I said a prayer." 하나님께 착하게 해달라고 기도하면 너를 도와 주실 것이야. 그러니 잘 했구나. "That's fine," she said, "if you ask God to make you good, He will help you." 저는 제가 착하게 해달라고 구하지 않았어요. "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me be good," replied the boy. 저는 엄마가 저를 참게 해 달라고 기도했어요. "I asked Him to help you put up with me." 

This story illustrates how self-centered we are even in our prayer life. We tend to request God to change others rather than ourselves. We tend to ask God to change the things we don’t like in our family members rather than to change the things we don’t like in ourselves. As long as we selfishly ask God amiss, we will struggle with our neighbors in the church. It doesn’t matter how long we pray if our prayer doesn’t change our character. True prayer changes us more than others, circumstances, or problems. It opens our eyes to see what we were apart from Christ, what we are in Christ, and what we need for the kingdom of God. It opens our hearts to the love of Christ that can transform us from self-centered people to God and neighbor-loving people.

            Most probably, Paul knew it well. So, he prayed the Ephesian believers would be filled with the love of Christ. As we know, the Ephesian congregation was divided into two factions, the Jewish party and the Gentile party. There was a conflict and discrimination between the two. Paul knew how they could be one in Christ. The answer is that both of them would be filled with the love of Christ. In other words, love is the answer to all factions and divisions in the church. If we understand Paul’s prayer in vv. 17-19, we can see why we should be filled with the love of Christ and how we can be filled with it.

            We have been studying Paul’s prayer in vv. 14-21 thus far. The overall theme is we must pray to the sovereign Father for the church because God answers more than we ask. We have covered the three points: 1) pray to the sovereign Father, 2) pray for your inner person to be strong, and 3) pray for Christ to dwell in your heart. Today, we will discuss the fourth point: “Prayer to be filled with the love of Christ.” No doubt the love of Christ is the best solution to the divisive issue in every church. Surely, the love of Christ is a powerful solution to our fundamental problems in life. Now, let’s get to this point.       

I.               주권자 아버지께 기도하세요.

Pray to the Sovereign Father.

II.             속사람이 강건해 지도록 기도하세요.

Pray for your inner person to be strong.

III.           그리스도께서 마음에 거하도록 기도하세요.

Pray for Christ to dwell in your heart.

IV.           그리스도의 사랑으로 충만해지도록 기도하세요.

Pray to be filled with the love of Christ.

The Apostle Paul's third petition shows us what is the most precious thing we can ask for. Our inner man needs to be strengthened by the power of God. The best way for our inner man to be strengthened is for Christ to make his home and live in our hearts. Therefore, Paul's two requests are connected: the inner man, where Christ dwells, is strong and healthy. The most precious person we can ask for is Christ, and the most precious thing we can ask for is the love of Christ. Paul was praying for these two for the Gentile believers in Ephesus who were experiencing division and discrimination from Jewish Christians.

Paul didn't ask God to make them materially wealthy even though most of them were poor. Nor did he ask God to help their children get into prestigious institutions. Paul didn't ask God to give them a long and healthy life. There is nothing wrong with asking for these things. We can ask God to meet our needs. We may ask for these things according to our needs. But what is more important than these, in a sense, is to have Christ dwell in our hearts and to have our souls filled with the love of Christ. A soul filled with the love of Christ cannot be satisfied with the things of this world. Only the love of God can satisfy our souls. All our emotional and psychological problems can be resolved if our souls are filled with the love of Christ. So, to be filled with the love of Christ is of utmost importance for us to live a sound Christian life.   

Then, is your heart filled with the love of Christ or the love of the world? Have you ever experienced the love of Christ on the cross? Or are you looking for something that fills your heart with happiness? Everyone has a longing for true love. But true love is found in the cross of Christ. Paul put it this way: 우리가 아직 죄인 되었을 때에 그리스도께서 우리를 위하여 죽으심으로 하나님께서 우리에게 대한 자기의 사랑을 확증하셨느니라. “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Christ gave His life on the cross to forgive our sins and to be with us forever. True love is giving of oneself freely. True love doesn't just talk the talk. True love acts in faith. True love is giving the most precious thing, which is found in the love of Christ. Self-sacrificing love is hard to find, even in the church. People profess love with words, but they betray and turn their backs easily. Man’s love is whimsical.

God’s love is good, faithful, abundant, and perfect. It is perfect. So, nothing we do can make that love greater or lesser. Even our sins can lessen the perfection of God’s love. Let me illustrate it this way: A father was tucking in his six-year-old son for the night. The father asked him, "아들아, 아빠가 널 가장 사랑할 때가 언제니?동생과 싸우고 말썽을 많이 부렸을 때?아니면 네가 엄마를 도와주고 모두에게 잘해줬을 때?" “Son, when does Daddy love you the most? When you’ve been fighting with your sister and getting into a lot of trouble? Or when you’ve been real helpful to Mommy and real nice to everyone?” The son thought for a moment and then said, “Both times!” “Right,” the father said, “and do you know why?” “Cause I’m your special guy,” replied the boy. For that was his daddy’s pet name for him, “Daddy’s Special Guy.” The boy knew his father loved him, no matter what, because he was “Daddy’s Special Guy.” God loves us the same way. He loves us unconditionally because we are his “special guys.”

Only when people encounter this love can they experience the joy of true salvation. We all long for this love. But we fail when we look for it among people. They try to get it from their children, their spouses, and their friends, but their love is self-centered, selfish, and limited. The greatest longing of modern people today is money because they believe that if they have plenty of money, they can be happy. The problem is, in reality, they don't have plenty of money, and even if they have more money than they need, it doesn't bring them the happiness they want. They have more than poor people, but they're not necessarily happier, because their souls are so big that money can't fill it. Nothing in this world can fill it. Only the one who made that soul, the Creator God, who is bigger than their souls, can fill it. God can fill their souls with His presence and His love.

When God fills our souls with his love, healing occurs within us. It is the love of Christ on the cross that keeps our souls healthy from the things that ravage our souls: depression, helplessness, meaninglessness, emptiness, anxiety, inferiority, hopelessness, anxiety, hurt, and so on. The love of Christ strengthens and renews our inner persons. The love of Christ heals the wounds of our souls. The love of Christ empowers our character to be Christlike. Our inner persons are fed and nourished by the love of Christ. It is the power of Christ's love that transforms our inner persons into wholeness. But many people don't know this and ask God for other temporary things. They ask for the wrong things and get no answer. Surely, we should ask for what is most precious to us, what we need most: to be filled with Christ and His love.

We have briefly seen how precious and necessary Christ's love is. Now we want to look at the nature of Christ's love as revealed in Paul's prayer. First, Christ's love is a foundational love. Paul's words in v. 17 illustrate this point: 너희가 사랑 가운데서 뿌리가 박히고 터가 굳어져서. "Being rooted and grounded in love." The love spoken of here, in context, is the love of Christ. This love refers to the love that Christ has for us. It does not refer to the love we have for Him. This love is the root and ground of life. To describe the love of Christ, Paul borrows the two metaphors from agriculture and architecture: root and foundation. We know the root supports the life of a plant. It is also the foundation that supports the building. In the same way, Christ’s love is the root and foundation of the believer's life. This shows how important the love of Christ is to our lives as believers.

When we are trying to build a house of our faith or a church community, love must be the foundation. A soul without love is sick. The reason people's hearts are so desolate today is because they don't receive love and they don't give it. Children who grow up unloved often become socially troubled. Unloved children, spouses, church members, and society have emotional wounds in their hearts. Their outlook is skewed toward negativity. They feel unhappy in life. They harbor resentment and bitterness in their hearts.  Their lives are likely to be insecure and their minds are always wandering without purpose.

We all try to build a good foundation to make our lives happy and meaningful. The problem is that we try to build on the wrong things: money, relationships, a business, a career, etc. We diligently try to construct our lives on those foundations, but they crumble when adversity strikes. Money and relationships are important, but they are not the foundations of life. They come and go. Money can suddenly take wings and fly away, and people you trust so thoroughly can turn their backs and walk away in an instant. Many of us have experienced this kind of heartbrokenness before. On what foundation are you building your life? Anything that is not Christ and His love crumbles. Only Christ and His love will sustain us through any adversity.

The Apostle Paul says, 이 닦아 둔것 외에 능히 다른 터를 닦아 둘 자가 없으니 이 터는 곧 예수 그리스도라. “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). The foundation of our lives is Christ. The foundation of our church is Christ. The foundation of our relationships must also be built on the foundation of Christ's love. When we give ourselves to our neighbors as Christ gave himself to us, our relationships will grow strong. Christ's love is the root of our life. If it is cut off from Christ’s love, our life will wither and die. Christ's love gives us life, enabling us to live a meaningful and blessed life. Is your soul dried? Is it because you lack Christ’s love that is the foundation of your life? Is your faith life, or the life of our church, weak and lethargic because you are living apart from Christ's love?

As Paul says, we are already rooted and built upon the love of Christ. We should always remember this fact and live by the power of Christ's mighty love. We should pray that our souls are filled with this love. We should pray that our people will eat and drink this love, for living apart from it is like walking alone in a desolate desert. You and I have already been given the love of Christ, who gave himself unreservedly to die on the cross for us. With this love, we can have victory in a world like a battlefield. No matter what happens, this love will protect us and lead us to heaven.

One day a single friend asked a father of four, “Why do you love your kids?” The father thought for a minute, but the only answer he could come up with was “Because they’re mine.” "내 자식이니까."아이들은 이 아버지에게 자신을 증명하기 위해 아무것도 할 필요가 없었습니다. 아버지는 그들을 있는 그대로 받아주셨습니다. 우리에 대한 하나님의 사랑도 마찬가지입니다. 그분은 우리를 있는 그대로 사랑하시며, 우리가 그분을 신뢰하고 순종하도록 동기를 부여하는 것은 그분의 사랑입니다. The children had no need to do anything to prove themselves to this father. He took them just as they were. So it is with God’s love for us. He loves us as we are, and it is his love that motivates us to trust and obey him in return. God says the same thing to you and me. Because we are His and Christ is ours, God loves us no matter what. Such love is the unshakable foundation of our life on which we can stand firm. There is nothing that can separate us from this love because we are His precious children in Christ.

The Apostle Paul expresses it this way: ³⁷ 그러나 이 모든 일에 우리를 사랑하시는 이로 말미암아 우리가 넉넉히 이기느니라 ³⁸ 내가 확신하노니 사망이나 생명이나 천사들이나 권세자들이나 현재 일이나 장래 일이나 능력이나 ³⁹ 높음이나 깊음이나 다른 아무 피조물이라도 우리를 우리 주 그리스도 예수 안에 있는 하나님의 사랑에서 끊을 수 없으리라. ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:37-39).

When you face overwhelming trials, you may feel like giving up on everything. When that happens, remember the unfailing love of Christ, and lean on that love to get you through each day. That love will sustain your soul. Even if everything in this world gives up on you, the love of Christ on the cross will not give up on you. If you have any doubts about that love, and you don't feel it, get on your knees right now and ask God earnestly, and the Holy Spirit will pour out the love of God in your heart, and comfort you with these words: 자기 아들을 아끼지 아니하시고 우리 모든 사람을 위하여 내어주신 이가 어찌 그 아들과 함께 모든 것을 우리에게 은사로 주지 아니하시겠느뇨. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). Hold on to these words, stand firm on the foundation of His love, and weather whatever storms life throws your way

Second, Christ's love is a communal love. Paul expresses this in verse 18, saying, “모든 성도와 함께 여러분이 그리스도의 사랑의 너비와 길이와 높이와 깊이가 어떠한지를 깨달을 수 있게 되고” "may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth” (New Living Translation). The Korean Revised Version transposes vv. 18 and 19, so I'm quoting the Korean New Living Translation. Verse 18 gives us two things about Christ's love. These are easy to spot in English translations. First, Christ's love is shared by the church. The apostle Paul prayed that the Ephesians would come to know Christ's love "with all the saints." Who are the saints being referred to here? The saints are a holy group of people dedicated to God. In chapter 1:1, Paul mentions “saints in Ephesus”, referring to the church in Ephesus, the recipients of his letter.

In verse 18, Paul prays that all the Ephesian church would come to comprehend the love of Christ. All the saints are the church conceived and brought forth by the love of Christ. The worldwide church is the people who have experienced the substitutionary grace of Christ's love on the cross. The local church is the people born of Christ's love on the cross. We should not think of Christ's love as the exclusive property of an individual. Christ's love is universal and global. Christ's love is non-discriminatory and the same for all. Christ’s love for a Jewish Christian and Christ’s love for a Gentile Christian are the same in size and character because Christ’s love itself is perfect. Nothing in us can make it greater or lesser because it is perfect. All who have received this love have received the same love. Therefore, we should not say, "Jesus loves that person more than me," because Jesus does not love His children discriminatorily. Christ's love is the indissoluble glue that unites the churches worldwide, transcending color, culture, social status, nationality, and more. Christ's love is powerful enough to redeem the entire universe. Paul's prayer for the Ephesians was that they would all experience this love together-not just a few zealous church members, but that the whole church would experience and share this love.

The people who worship with us now have received the same love of Christ that we have experienced. The way we can achieve the unity of the church is for all of us to experience and live out the love of Christ together. Jesus said to his disciples, 새 계명을 너희에게 주노니 서로 사랑하라 내가 너희를 사랑한 것 같이 너희도 서로 사랑하라. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (John 13:34). All believers are to love one another in imitation of Christ's love-this is the Lord's command. Love is the evidence that we belong to Christ. Yet too many Christians today hate their brothers and sisters without remorse, yet they are proud to say they are Christians. Some Christians practice hypocrisy, harboring hate in their hearts while speaking love on the outside. This was a problem in the early church and it's a problem today.

Love is a concrete, helpful action toward a neighbor in need. The apostle John was a man who, in his youth, wanted thunder and lightning to fall upon those who did not accept the gospel of the Lord, but after he realized the ransomed love of Christ, he preached love.1 John is an epistle he wrote when he was much older. He realized after many years that the most important virtue for Christians is love. He tells the recipients of his letter that just as Christ laid down his life and loved his people, so we should love one another. Who among us would lay down our lives for the brothers or sisters next to us? Probably none of us would; we are incapable of doing so. So why is the apostle telling us that? He tells us that we should love one another as Christ loved us. We can still practice a little love even though we are not able to love to the point of laying down our lives.

The fullness of Christ's love dwelling in our hearts is the evidence that we are filled with the Holy Spirit. When we love, we are pleasing to God. Yet we fool ourselves into thinking we love God while treating our neighbors hurtfully. God is love. Love is the essence of God. Love is not one of God's many attributes; it is the essence that represents all of God's moral character. That is why God loved sinners like us in Christ. How do we know that we are children who belong to him? How can you be sure that you are one of the saved? You can be sure that you are a child who belongs to God when you have been loved by God and love your neighbor because of that love. This is the testimony of the Bible. The Apostle John says: ²⁰ 누구든지 하나님을 사랑하노라 하고 그 형제를 미워하면 이는 거짓말 하는 자니 보는 바 그 형제를 사랑치 아니하는 자가 보지 못하는 바 하나님을 사랑할 수가 없느니라 ²¹ 우리가 이 계명을 주께 받았나니 하나님을 사랑하는 자는 또한 그 형제를 사랑할찌니라. ²⁰ If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother (1 Jn. 4:20-21).

We must not commit the folly of separating love for God from love for neighbor. There are many who profess to love God, but not many who profess to love their neighbor because they love God. Loving our neighbor is the very evidence of loving God. Loving God should be manifested in loving our neighbor. The problem is that it's not easy for us to love. We may have to endure, we may have to suffer losses, or we may have to exert ourselves. Think of parents who sacrifice everything to love their children. Think of a married couple who put up with each other. We can never practice love if we act according to our sinful nature, but we can practice loving our neighbors in small ways because we have received God's infinite love. It is our privilege and duty to realize the love of Christ and practice love for God and neighbor with all the saints.

The role of the church is not to become a selective club of religious snobs. The warmth of God’s fellowship was never meant to be excluded from those outside the cliques within the church. Man-made barriers should never hinder us from reaching out and receiving other people who are different. The love of God compels us to lay down our lives for one another. 1989년 12월 31일자 시카고 트리뷴에서 편집자들은 1980년 대의 사진을 인쇄했습니다. 그 중 하나는 ... 화재 피해자를 현장에서 옮기는 소방관과 구급대원의 모습을 포착한 것이었습니다. 1984년 12월 시카고에서 발생한 이 화재는 처음에는 일상적인 화재로 보였습니다. 하지만 소방관들은 한 아파트 주방에 모여 있던 엄마와 아이 다섯 명의 시신을 발견했습니다.... 소방관들은 "그녀는 아이들 중 두세 명과 함께 탈출할 수 있었지만 누구를 택할지 결정하지 못했을 것이다"라고 추측했습니다.그녀는 소방관들이 도착할 때까지 모두 함께 기다리기로 결정했습니다.모두 연기 흡입으로 사망했습니다." In the December 31, 1989 Chicago Tribune, the editors printed their photos of the decade. One of them … captured a grim fireman and paramedic carrying a fire victim away from the scene. The blaze, which happened in Chicago in December 1984, at first seemed routine. But then firefighters discovered the bodies of a mother and five children huddled in the kitchen of an apartment.… The firefighters surmised, “She could have escaped with two or three of the children but couldn’t decide whom to pick. She chose to wait with all of them for the firefighters to arrive. All of them died of smoke inhalation.”

There are times when you just don’t leave those you love. You just don’t leave someone because he is poorer than you, or he is richer than you, or he is from another culture, his skin color is different, he speaks with a different accent or language, he has a dark or shameful past, he looks different, he acts different, or you are forced to choose between being popular or being shunned. The Christian believer who really cares will make a special effort to break down the walls that divide people, not turn people away and leave them. If you truly love people, you embrace them and welcome them into the fellowship of God’s people and church. When you do so, you are practicing the love of Christ, which should be shared together with everyone in the church.

But those who have tried to practice love, even in small ways, will confess that it is not easy to do. How can we, who are selfish and self-centered, practice the love of Christ? This is related to the second point we are going to address. The second point we want to address is...

Second, we need God's help to comprehend God's love, because the magnitude of God's love is beyond our intellectual capacity. A one-year-old cannot understand mathematical calculus. Or that baby can’t be fluent in Korean and English. A one-year-old baby doesn't have the intellectual capacity to understand language. I don't understand space engineering. There are countless things in this world that I don't understand. I don't even understand all of God's Word. In order for us to comprehend the immeasurably great love of Christ on the cross, God must give His power of grace to our souls, and only then can we fathom the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ's love. When I say that Christ's love is immeasurably great, I mean His love is unfathomable; it is greater than the entire universe. We can't put the whole ocean in a bowl with a spoon; no matter how hard we try, we may be able to move a tidbit of it around. Christ's love is just like that, immeasurable.

But we are meant to drink and live from this love forever. Even if all the saved were to drink of God's love together for all eternity, there would still be no end to it. Even if Christ's love is the same for all of us, the degree to which we realize and know that love will vary from person to person. Some will experience and understand Christ’s love on the cross in their lives more, deeper, and wider than others. Those who have experienced that their sins are more numerous than the hair on their heads and as powerful as death will experience Christ's forgiving love infinitely greater than those sins. Each will experience the magnitude of Christ's love according to their degree of sanctification. Sin makes our hearts numb to Christ's love; sin blinds our spiritual eyes; sin hinders the activity of our faith. But when we experience these sins, if we repent and turn to the Lord, we will find that Christ's love still welcomes us. Those who realize the seriousness of sin and experience Christ's forgiveness will know by experience how wonderful and great Christ's love is.    

We need God’s help to grasp the magnitude of Christ’s love. As mentioned earlier, sinners who are blinded by sin do not have the ability to understand the love of Christ, so God gives us the Holy Spirit to help us understand that love. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit can we realize the love of Christ on the cross. Paul puts it this way: 소망이 부끄럽게 아니함은 우리에게 주신 성령으로 말미암아 하나님의 사랑이 우리 마음에 부은바 됨이니. and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans 5:5). No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4). The Holy Spirit pours out the spirit of repentance in our hearts. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to tear our hearts, not our clothes, and repent. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to realize the grace of the gospel of Christ and experience the love of Christ on the cross. The Holy Spirit is the one who works in our souls to enable us to grasp the love of Christ. Therefore, we must pray in the Spirit. The Apostle Paul says, 모든 기도와 간구로 하되 무시로 성령 안에서 기도하고 이를 위하여 깨어 구하기를 항상 힘쓰며 여러 성도를 위하여 구하고. praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints (Eph. 6:18).

We are to be filled with the Holy Spirit through prayer, just as the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit through prayer. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we can experience the fullness of Christ's love. D. L. 무디가 "성령 세례"라고 불렀던 것은 1872년 11월 뉴욕에서 일어났습니다. 그는 이미 10년 동안 시카고 빈민가와 남북전쟁에 헌신했지만, 하나님의 뜻에 대한 적대감과 "하나님께서 나를 성령으로 채워 주시기를 바라는 내 영혼의 큰 갈망" 등 갈등의 시기를 보냈습니다. 완전한 항복 후에는 "그분의 성령을 부어 주시는 손을 멈추어 달라고 할 만큼 그분의 사랑을 체험"하게 되었습니다. What D. L. Moody called his “baptism of the Holy Spirit” took place in New York in November 1872. He’d already given ten years to the Chicago slums and the Civil War, but then he had a conflict period, including both hostility to God’s will and “great hunger in my soul … that God would fill me with his Holy Spirit.” Following complete surrender came “such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand.”

The infilling of the Holy Spirit makes us experience the fullness of Christ’s love. Also, the Holy Spirit is the one who helps us pray. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins and leads us to repentance. The evidence that we are filled with the Holy Spirit is shown by the fruit of love. The first and foremost important fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, which is love for God and neighbor. But many Christians seek gifts of power other than the gift of love. They chase after gifts that are visible and draw attention to themselves. Paul realized that the Corinthian church was falling into pride through the experience of the gifts and that the church was splitting into factions, so he addresses the issue of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

Addressing a church that had become proud and confused with its gifts, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:31: 너희는 더욱 큰 은사를 사모하라 내가 또한 제일 좋은 길을 너희에게 보이리라. But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. And then he goes right on to describe love in 1 Corinthians 13. He says in chapter 13:1-3: 내가 사람의 방언과 천사의 말을 할찌라도 사랑이 없으면 소리나는 구리와 울리는 꽹과리가 되고 ² 내가 예언하는 능이 있어 모든 비밀과 모든 지식을 알고 또 산을 옮길만한 모든 믿음이 있을찌라도 사랑이 없으면 내가 아무 것도 아니요 ³ 내가 내게 있는 모든 것으로 구제하고 또 내 몸을 불사르게 내어 줄찌라도 사랑이 없으면 내게 아무 유익이 없느니라. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

We may use the gifts of tongues, prophecy, faith, deliverance, and so on, but if we don't use them to love God and neighbor, it's all for naught. The love of Christ must be the beginning of everything we do in the church, in our homes, and in society. Love for God and neighbor is the summary of God’s Word. Relying on Christ’s love, we must strive to love one another above all. The apostle Peter says, 무엇보다도 열심으로 서로 사랑할찌니 사랑은 허다한 죄를 덮느니라. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8).

V.             하나님의 영광을 위하여 기도하세요.  

Pray for the glory of God.

Conclusion: Human beings do love, but our love is limited to certain people and to certain degrees. At some point, we are simply not willing to give any more. But God’s love is unlimited, unconditional. This point is illustrated by a famous true story: In the 1800s, the wife of a wealthy railroad executive was traveling around Europe, enjoying shopping for the latest fashions. Her husband didn’t mind if she spent money, and he knew that if she wanted to spend a serious amount, she would send word and ask his permission. One day, a message sent by telegraph did come to the executive with the following request. “Dearest Clarence, I came across the most exquisite diamond necklace in Paris. It costs $10,000.” The husband replied quickly, “No, price too high!” Unfortunately, when the telegraph operator received the message on the other side of the Atlantic, he failed to include the comma. The wife was delighted when she received a message stating, “No price too high!” And she purchased her treasure, reveling in the thought of how much her husband loved her. The redemption of the human race cost God the death of His only Son on a cruel cross. We can rejoice, though, knowing that God did not pause or hesitate. When it came time to pay for the sins of the world, His answer was, “No price too high!”

The world seeks power rather than love. They view love as a weakness. However, love is most powerful, which we find in the cross of Christ. Christ has transformed the world through His infinite love. Have you experienced this love, not through the testimony of others, but through your own experience? Christ loves you without discrimination, change, and measure. If you want proof of this, come to His cross; Jesus is waiting for you; embrace Him by faith and love. Christ's love is the root and foundation of your life. Christ's love is a communal love shared together. Christ's love is the love that gave Himself on the cross unreservedly to sinners. I want to leave you with these words as I close my sermon: ¹⁰ 사랑은 여기 있으니 우리가 하나님을 사랑한 것이 아니요 오직 하나님이 우리를 사랑하사 우리 죄를 위하여 화목제로 그 아들을 보내셨음이니라 ¹¹ 사랑하는 자들아 하나님이 이같이 우리를 사랑하셨은즉 우리도 서로 사랑하는 것이 마땅하도다. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 Jn. 4:10-11). May you live and act on this love in the week ahead. 

Benediction: ²⁰ 우리 가운데서 역사하시는 능력대로 우리의 온갖 구하는 것이나 생각하는 것에 더 넘치도록 능히 하실 이에게 ²¹ 교회 안에서와 그리스도 예수 안에서 영광이 대대로 영원 무궁하기를 원하노라 아멘. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21)