Grosey's Messages

Proverbs 1:1-7, 2:1-17  1Corinthians 1:18-31   James 1:1-7

The Greeks were full of famous philosophers. Can you think of some Greek philosophers? Socrates, Aristotle. Plato. Pythagoras. Pythagorean theorem. A squared plus B squared equals C squared. Yes, and that's exciting?! Not! Democritus, Parmenides, Cicero. Atomism, for example, the idea that all of matter is made up of little particles called atoms.  Greek philosophers were the first ones that thought that up. And Epicureanism, Platonism, realism, stoicism, hedonism: Life is about pleasure. Let's eat and drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.

For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe." Now, that's an amazing statement . The Greeks were looking for wisdom, they were looking for God as well. Plato had statements about God and they were trying to find him through their intellectual achievements, but it was the wisdom of God that they could never find him that way. By thinking deeply and meditating about the world and about yourself, and working through axioms of truth you won't find God that way. He can't be found unless He reveals Himself to people. 

So the Book of Proverbs was written mainly by Solomon. Proverb: Mashal to represent or guide or rule.

Principles for life.

1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:  2 To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight,  

HOW DID SOLOMON GET WISE? 2 CHRONICLES 1:6 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. 7 In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, "Ask what I shall give you." 8 And Solomon said to God, "You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place. 9 O LORD God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?" 11 God answered Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like."

6 to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

Pro Verb  short statement on behalf of many words.

Some human proverbs are interesting.  Do you "look before you leap?" or is it "he who hesitates is lost?" "You only get what you pay for," or "The best things in life are free." "Leave well enough alone." And then, somebody else comes along and says, "Progress never stands still."

"Better to keep silent and be thought dumb than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

So these are human proverbs, and there's some truth in all of them, if you figure out the riddle of it.

But God's proverbs are not just short sentences based on long experience; they're not little witticisms that sometimes just sound good. These are revealed truths from the Word of God, and they are God's ways that God's people can know true wisdom. Wisdom is the theme of the entire Book of Proverbs. And if you read the Book of Proverbs. Wisdom is used over and over and over again. For example, if you were to read the first six verses, you would find the word wisdom or wise used over and over again—just in those first six or seven verses here in the Book of Proverbs. So wisdom is the key.

1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 9 ¹⁰ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Proverbs 10 ²⁷ The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.

Psalms 111 ¹⁰ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

So the Book of Proverbs was written mainly by Solomon.

1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:  2 To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight,  3 to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;  4 to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— 5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,
In the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know him. But a simple slave, or a common man or woman who hears and believes the gospel of Jesus Christ, they have the wisdom of God.

"There's no true wisdom apart from God." It says, "The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."

Wisdom. To make right decisions for the right reason at the right time.

It is being in tune with God's perspective rather than standing on our own.

So often I see people standing for causes who really have no historical or contextual information to make the decisions. We live in an age where truth is on the scaffold.

To have Wisdom you must start at the right spot.

Start With Christ              Start With the Cross       Start With Grace

Start With Christ  1 Cor 1:30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Start With Christ    And instead true Wisdom is found in knowing Christ. 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Start With the cross 1 Cor 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,  "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."

Start With Grace     "It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus." Think about that. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us, what? Wisdom from God. Our wisdom is Jesus Christ. He is our wisdom. He has become for us wisdom from God, that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.  "That no flesh should glory in his presence" (1 Corinthians 1:29). There are not going to be any peacocks in Heaven. "That no flesh should glory in his presence" (1 Corinthians 1:29). That's the reason why He saves us by grace. He won't save us by works, will He? "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should"—what?—"boast" (Ephesians 2:8–9). Why does God use ordinary people and give them extraordinary power? "That no flesh should glory in his presence" (1Corinthians 1:29). No superstar is in Heaven.

The Injurious Want of Wisdom

Unstable       he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:6 for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Unhappy 1:18,19 but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.

8:  34  Blessed is the one who listens to me, atching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.
 35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,
 36 but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death."

Ungodly      Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

The Infallible Way to Wisdom      Proverbs 2:1-9

Appreciate the Word

1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,

2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;

3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,

Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure,

making wise the simple;

2Tim 3: 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Assimilate the Word

4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,

5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.

Seek it. Search for it.

Activate the Word

Matt 7: 24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;

10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

11 discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you,

12 delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech,

13 who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,

14 who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil,

15 men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.

16 So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words,

17 who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;

Pray Unceasingly James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Pray Intensely                    Pray Expectantly

The Inviting Witness of Wisdom

A Public Invitation 20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice;  21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

8: 1 Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? 2 On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; 3 beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: 4 "To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. 5 O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.
A Pressing Invitation  22 "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?  23 If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.  24 Because I have called and you refused to listen, I have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,  25 because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,  26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,  27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.  28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.  29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,  30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,  31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.
A Personal Invitation

32 For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;
 33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."

Proverbs 19 ²³ The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.

Have you ever felt  "spiritually out of joint?" An extreme sense of this loss of purpose and meaning in life is found in the writings of French secular philosopher, John Paul Sartre "That God does not exist I cannot deny; that my whole being cries out for God I cannot forget." One is left with a sense of emptiness and distress when this position is deeply contemplated.  Over recent years a more individualistic sense of meaning and fulfilment and its associated core issue of "how, indeed, can life be fulfilling?" has become the feature of Western culture and society. When pursued as a personal, self-oriented, self-actualised goal, fulfilment may appear to be incredibly ego-centric. And so self-destructive.  The pursuit of selfish goals seems to undermine all of our best endeavours, and bring its own bag of frustrations.

In our study last year of the book of Ecclesiastes, we came to understand that the opposite to the desire for 'fullness' is something deeply embedded in the Old Testament concepts of sinfulness and personal frustration which every person "under heaven" endures, whatever age, whatever belief structure, whatever may be the community to which they belong. The author of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher, contrasts fullness with a deep emptiness.  Human lives often find meaning and purpose by focussing around one or more important elements which become the main focus and factor of individual lives and corporate communities.  The Preacher called some of these focussing factors "trivial pursuits," when he said after an examination of the factors of his life "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity." The Hebrew term hebel, translated vanity or vain, refers concretely to a 'mist,' 'vapor,' or 'mere breath,' and metaphorically to something that is fleeting or elusive. Perhaps it is comparable to the Rolling Stones song: "I can't get no satisfaction, though I try and I try and I try, but, I can't get no satisfaction."

The problem with the things that people focus upon to give them fullness, meaning and purposefulness is that they are, as Tim Keller wrote, "counterfeit gods!"

They promise much but when finally and totally relied upon give depression and distress. The job promotion, cannot meet that need for fulfilment when the person has to defend his spot on the mound against all comers, and then discovers he is standing on a mound! It is just dirt!   He comes to retirement and his life is now meaningless because all his life was about defending his position and his power. 

Another counterfeit god is the dollar! He who has the most houses when he dies wins. And so he loses relationships with family and friends because of his desire for money. He is consumed by it and finds it to bring nothing.

A person focuses on a romantic relationship to give them fullness, and the person exhibits selfishness and cannot meet that deep need.  Folk are unfulfilled. Mainly because they were not designed to fully fulfil each other completely.  Our aspirations for fullness are denied by the very things that we hope will bring fullness.

And these counterfeit gods are no less addictive than the counterfeit gods of drugs, alcohol and sensuality.  But they do not bring ultimate fulfilment.

The apostle Paul confronts us with the greatest of experiences that you can ever have! Fullness! 

γνῶναί τε τὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν τῆς γνώσεως ἀγάπην τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ

The Fullness of God       Provision

ἵνα πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ

The divine filling contrasts with the need and emptiness of the world. The New Testament uses the term in a transferred sense to denote 'rich fullness.' In the Septuagint (the Old Testament in Greek translated about 200BC)  plēróō occurs some 70 times. It carries the meaning of 'satisfied,' 'intact,' 'overflowing,' 'full,' 'fully covered,' and 'complete.'"

The concept of "fullness" is an underlying motif of New Testament Christianity; it is presented both as a goal to be attained and a gift to be received, something found only in relationship with Christ; a gift from Christ, the summation of a person's relationship with Christ, and the integrating factor of a Christian's life providing resilience in times of distress. It is also viewed apocalyptically by the apostle Paul, as the term signifying the culmination of world history."

John writes in the prologue of his gospel "of His fullness we have all received and grace upon grace." Paul writes of fullness in an experiential, extravagant way in Ephesians 3: "and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  A.T. Robertson, a renowned scholar of the Greek New Testament defines fullness: "Fullness of God is the fullness which God imparts through the dwelling of Christ in the heart; Christ, in whom the Father was pleased that all the fullness should dwell (Col 1:19), and in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead (Col 2:9)."

The concept speaks of a total fullness, something that dominates the individual.

There is an association of the term 'filling' with the imagery of the Old Testament Tabernacle and the Temple terminology. At significant times the Temple is described as being "filled with the glory of God."  Ezekiel 36:22–27. "God promises a new covenant entailing the giving of a "new spirit," even "my [God's] Spirit."      

The Old Testament often alludes to a temporary 'filling' of individuals occurring for an historical purpose.

And here in Ephesians 3 the apostle Paul prays that this fullness, this being filled with all the fullness of God is for all of us.  All of us filled with the fullness of God. Not just for pastors, or missionaries. Every single one of us.

Some of the most serious ailments of Christians today are dryness, depression, and despair; and if we could take a census of people gathered here we should find that these things exist in many hearts. Dryness. Somehow you are still outside what you know God is longing to give, and you are still conscious of dryness. Some of you came here with depression because of the dreariness of your life. You have heard much of what God is waiting to give you but you are even more depressed. I wonder if there are some here who are almost despairing? Well, here is God's picture of what He wants of you, and the picture of the place to which He wants to bring you.

John 7: 37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  John 7:37-39.  Fullness! Filled up with all the fullness of God!

THE DIVINE PROVISION: "Out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water . . . the Spirit." That provision of God is meant for daily living. There are people who seem to imagine that when the Scriptures speak of the fullness of God, that it is only something for ministers in pulpits or missionaries on the foreign field. No! It is for your daily living. The fullness of God is for you in the everyday.  The fullness of the Spirit is for you, friend, in your practical daily job, that you may make up the books better; that you may turn out the work from your hands in a way that pleases Him; that you shall be thorough in your work.  A friend of mine has written over her sink: "Divine service held here three times daily"

There is a fullness of God that is to be experienced daily, even in the most frustrating of situations.

The Fullness of God       Obessession

Are you thirsty for the fullness of God? When you are thirsty you don't sit and argue.. If you want to sit and argue about theological opinions, you are full of yourself.  But God's requirement is thirst: "If any man thirst, let him come . . ." not, "If any one wants to sit and argue and beat theological drums."  When you are thirsty you do not merely think about it, you desire nothing else but God's blessing, because you know a deep thirst, a deep dryness, a deep despair in your heart. And God says to you, "Are you really thirsty? Have you discovered the barrenness of your life, the dryness of your soul? Are you thirsty? "If any man thirst . . ." and when a person is thirsty it is because of their utter need.

It is when a man or woman comes in utter need that he is received. The thirsty man says, "It is water only that I must have, for my tongue is parched and dry, and I cannot go on for another hour: I must have water." If you have come to the place like that, where you are really thirsty,  you will get Him in all His fullness.

Ab Simpson wrote  a hymn:  Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord; Once it was the feeling,  Now it is His Word; Once His gift I wanted,   Now, the Giver own; Once I sought for healing,   Now Himself alone.

Be Thou my Vision  O Lord of my heart       Naught be all else to me  Save that Thou art

Thou my best thought  By day or by night       Waking or sleeping  Thy presence my light

The Fullness of God          Direction

Be Thou my Wisdom  And Thou my true Word

I ever with Thee  And Thou with me Lord

The Apostle Paul was not trying to give the Ephesian Christians some mystical delight, or some interesting metaphysical problem to unravel. He did not write in order to stimulate them to argue about doctrine; he wrote his Epistle in order to help them in their daily life and living. Something essentially practical, a concrete reality, is here before us.

Charles Taylor speaks of self-transcendence "as calling for a radical decentering of the self in relation with God."  Self-Transcendence is a theme of the New Testament.

Viewed negatively self-transcendence is a forgetting of one's self.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." John 12: 24-26.

The cryptic statement "whoever loves his life loses it" highlights an implicit problem: if someone seeks fullness in order to be "self-actualised" or in some way better in their experience, they miss it! To seek fullness for one's self is to be denied it, for that is the attitude of self-centredness. To lose one's life, through not focussing on selfish or self-oriented fixations, is to achieve self-transcendence and fullness. To have an outward focus necessitates self-transcendence through fixation on 'God' .

Victor Frankl spoke of self-realisation actually being self-forgetfulness and self-transcendence. Taylor uses terms 'brought out of self', 'transcending the self', 'decentering the self', going 'beyond the self', 'self-overcoming', as a means of attaining fullness or fulfilment. 'beyond self-related desire;

Are you thirsty because you know you cannot get on without Him? Thirsty because you know that back there in that job, back there in your home, perhaps with that difficult child or that awkward mother-in-law, you will be back in the same old grind, and you say, "I cannot face it." Then, friend, are you prepared to come thirsty, conscious of your desperate need, and take God's blessing for your need? I hope, as you are thirsty, you do not come here in despair; for God knows, and God is waiting to bless, and He says to you today, "If any man thirst."  Filled with all the fullness of God.

The Fullness of God  Possession

Thou my great Father      I Thy true son

Thou in me dwelling        And I with Thee one

Eph5: 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

We are 'in Christ'; and Christ is 'in us'. Do not try to understand this, for it 'passeth knowledge'. The New Testament tells us that we are joined to Christ, that we are 'in Him'. In the fifth chapter of this same Epistle we find the Apostle saying that we are 'members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones' (v. 30). This indicates the nature of the union. In order that we may have some idea of how this works, let us turn to some of the most glorious statements that are to be found in the entire Bible. The Apostle John in the prologue of his Gospel writes: 'And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace' (v. 16). Our Lord had taught this truth in the days of His flesh, when he said: 'I am the vine, ye are the branches' (John 15:5). Such is the relationship—that of a vine and its branches. This helps us to understand how we can be filled with the fulness of God. Already, in the first chapter of this Epistle to the Ephesians, referring to the Church the Apostle says: 'Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all' (v. 23). 

The fulness of God, therefore, can reside in me in exactly the same way as the fulness of the life of the vine is in every individual branch and twig. The fulness of the vine, the essence, the life, that element in the sap that makes the vine the vine, is in the branches also. All the fulness of the vine is in the branches because of the organic connection, the vital union of all its parts.

Being strengthened by God's Spirit in the inner man, Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith and being filled up with all the fullness of God means that the glory of God dwells in us.

And greater yet, everything about us speaks of the glory of God.

Drink, or receive. "Come unto me. and drink"—come unto me, and receive. You say, "How can I receive this fullness of God? "

The Fullness of God Suppression

Riches I heed not  Or man's empty praise Thou mine inheritance     Now and always

Thou and Thou only         First in my heart High King of heaven      My treasure Thou art

Fullness implies sufficiency.      Fullness implies superabundance.

It implies that all our fleshly sinful "needs" are superabundantly catered for in a new relationship in Christ.   Filled with all the fullness of God means that those deep internal needs for love, compassion understanding self-esteem etc are met in a relationship with God. He fills up where has sin has taken from us in our personality. He fills up where in had previously destroyed. He remakes us.

There is not only the self forgetfulness, a reorientation away from our selfish ego needs,  there is also the outward focus on loving others and loving God. It means putting aside other counterfeit gods to know the true and living God.  The old is gone the new has come!

"The Spirit Strengthening us in inner man.       Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith.

that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,        that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

It means that God dwells in us in such a way as to control us and each part of us, God controls the whole of our life. He controls our thinking, and our feelings, and our outward actions.

Frances Ridley Havergal, Take my life, and let it be …  Take my intellect, and use Every power as Thou shalt choose.

The man in whom all the fulness of God dwells is controlled by the love of God. This is seen supremely in the case of our Lord Himself, and as He dwells in us, it becomes characteristic of us. Not only is the inward focus the selfishness gone in self-forgetfulness, we now have an outward focus of love to God and to others.

William Cowper says:  Lord, it is my chief complaint That my love is weak and faint.

He longs to love God more truly and to love Christ more.

O Jesus Christ, grow Thou in me And all things else recede.

Be thou my vision oh Lord of my heart, nought be all else to me save what thou art

Thou my best thought by day or by night, thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one

The Fullness of God      Completion

In fact Paul represents "fullness" as being not only the completion of God's apocalyptic purposes, but also the completion of all things. It is the reason for meaning, and meaning is found only in the harmony of the fullness found in Christ, developed in the believer and fulfilled in the true meaning for all humanity 

Ephesians 1:8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known  to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.   11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

High King of heaven  My victory won

May I reach heaven's joys      O bright heaven's Sun

The Fullness of God          Decision

³⁷, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"

That is the invitation that God gives you today. Why? Because all things are now ready. That is the grand truth of the Gospel for us. "Come," because Christ  has died, "Come," because in all your need and all the consciousness of your shortcoming and failure, all the consciousness of the darkness of the parts of your life where Christ has not been glorified, the Saviour is ready to come if you will invite Him. Come to Him with your need and say, "Lord Jesus, come. Thou has died for me and shed Thy precious blood; come in now, and cleanse my life. Come in, Lord, and do the work which Thou alone canst, of breaking down the barriers, of cleansing away the sin, and of purifying the heart." Come, then, as you are willing to glorify the Saviour. Will you come because you dare to believe that His love and His grace are for you; that you can possess the gift of the Holy Spirit to-night? That is the second step: you must come.

Heart of my own heart  Whatever befall

Still be my Vision   O Ruler of all

But is it too good to be true? That we can be perfectly satisfied with the fullness of God?

The doxology says consider His Power.  He can do that!  This can be your experience. 3:20, 21. 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.

It is not for super Christians but for every Christian to be filled with the fullness of God! 

We limit God.  Is anything too difficult for the Lord? He wants you to be filled with all the fullness of God. He wants you to be a godly person!  Can you be a godly person? He wants that to be your experience and He can make that your experience. If Christians know this power, they must not stagger in unbelief, or doubt or hesitate when he tells them that they may 'be filled with all the fulness of God'. The power which has brought them from death to life will bring them to know 'the love of Christ which passeth knowledge', and cause them to be 'filled with all the fulness of God'.

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

John Piper writes in Providence   pg 39  In Ephesians 1:11–12 he says that we have been "predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory." Existence for the praise of God's glory! And two verses later, he says that the Holy Spirit is "the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory" (1:14). Inheritance for the praise of God's glory! God's goal from before creation was that what we are and what we have would give rise to praise for his glory. So in this first chapter of Ephesians, we see God choosing us for his glory (1:4), predestining us for his glory (1:5), adopting us for his glory (1:5), destining us to be for his glory (1:12), and securing our inheritance for his glory (1:14). Or, to be more clear and precise, his goal, expressed three times, is not simply "God's glory" but "the praise of his glory" (1:6, 12, 14).

God wants you to be filled with all the fullness of God for a reason: to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.