What Is Spiritual Fullness — Stephen Kaung

The Fullness of Christ in Ephesians and Colossians

Will you please turn to Ephesians, the letter to the Ephesians. We want to read a few verses from Ephesians and Colossians. Ephesians chapter one, verse twenty-three. Maybe it's better if we start with twenty-two.

And has put all things under his feet, that is, under the feet of our Lord Jesus, and gave him to behead over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Chapter three, verse nineteen.

Chapter three, verse nineteen. And to know the love of the Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that ye may be filled even to all the fullness of God. Chapter four, verse thirteen. Chapter four, verse thirteen.

Until we all arrive at the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, as a full-grown man, as a measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ. Colossians, the letter to the Colossians.

Chapter one, verse nineteen. Chapter one, verse nineteen. For in him, that is, in Christ, all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell. Chapter two, verses nine and ten. Chapter two, verses nine and ten.

For in him, that is, in Christ, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him. Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we bow in worship, thanking thee for thy gracious love towards us.

Who are we that in these last days thou should give us this opportunity, gathering us together, set us apart to wait upon thee, to hear thy voice, to do thy will. O Heavenly Father, we thank thee for thy love.

But at the same time, we tremble before thee, lest we allow this time pass away without really hearing thy voice, nor obeying thy will. Do not allow us to come and to go as usual. We pray that thou will create within us a real hunger and thirst after thyself.

We thank thee for thy precious promise. Blessed are the hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for they shall be filled. So we come before thee as empty vessels. If we are already full, Lord, pour it out, that we may really be filled with that which is above, and not with that which is below.

Do have mercy upon us, that we will not take thy word lightly. O Lord, teach us how to tremble at thy word, lest we depart from thy truth. So we wait upon thee, Lord, together. May thy spirit move in our midst.

O Lord, we confess, unless thou, thy Spirit, will open thy word to us, we are blind. We are helpless. So Lord, pray that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation be given to us this time, that we may really know thee, and come to appreciate thy fullness.

O Lord, our confidence is in thee. We give thee all the glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Thank God for gathering us together again this time. I believe, brothers and sisters, you all realize that the theme of this conference is spiritual fullness.

The Call to Humility and Hunger for Spiritual Fullness

I do not know how it hits you. When you hear about spiritual fullness, what is your reaction? Whether you think it is too glorious to be true, or whether you think it is beyond our reach, whether you think that you have known it all, you already have it.

What is your reaction? As I meditate upon this subject, the more I meditate, the more I begin to realize the vastness, the greatness, the richness, the glory of the fullness of God. And yet, it humbles me.

It makes me feel how little of His fullness I know. I confess, brothers and sisters, the more I think about it, the more I think I am not fit to speak on this subject. So this time, I am not going to speak to you on spiritual fullness.

I am not worthy. The more I think of His fullness, the more I feel how little I know. The only thing that comforts me is that it does create in me a longing for His fullness. That's all I have. I long to know His fullness.

So dear brothers and sisters, I dare not preach to you. What I will do is I will share with you my own meditation. I hope that you will go along with me as I meditate upon this glorious theme, spiritual fullness.

I hope, brothers and sisters, you will meditate together with me. Hopefully, the Lord will create within me, within us, a deeper longing, thirsting, seeking, pursuing His fullness. Because this is the will of God.

This is the hope of our salvation. And I pray to the Lord that He will empty every one of us. That no one will think he knows. He has already remembered the church in Laodicea. Therefore, they say we are rich.

We lack nothing. We know everything. There is nothing more to add. That's their own judgment. But the judgment of the Lord is, you're blind, you're naked, you're miserable, you're poor. So dear brothers and sisters, my prayer is that as we gather together these days, there will be a spirit of humility.

Humility. Ask the Lord, if you feel full, that He will empty you. Because only that which is emptied can be filled. So may the Lord help us these days. Dear brothers and sisters, I tremble before the Lord.

We gather year after year. And the coming of the Lord is drawing nearer and nearer. Are we prepared? Are we ready for Him with empty hands, empty hearts? So I believe it is the mercy of God to gather us again this time.

Give us another opportunity that we may really repent before the Lord. And earnestly seek to be filled with His fullness. That when we shall see Him, we will not be put to shame. So this is my heart desire.

Spiritual Fullness in Paul's Prison Letters

When you think of spiritual fullness, immediately it draws you to the prison letters of the Apostle Paul. The letter to the Ephesians, the letter to the Colossians, and the letter to the Philippians. You find in the letter to the Ephesians, three times it mentions about the word fullness.

The church, the body of Christ, is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Now is it true? In chapter 3 verse 19, in the prayer of the Apostle Paul, how he prayed that our inner man will be strengthened.

That Christ may dwell in our hearts. That we may begin to apprehend with all the saints the love of Christ which is beyond understanding and be filled with the fullness. Filled with the fullness of God.

How glorious that is. And then you turn to chapter 4 verse 13, that we may one day all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. To the full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness, think of that, the fullness of Christ.

And then in Colossians chapter 1 verse 19, in Him, in Christ, all the fullness of the Godhead. Thank God for that. And thank God in chapter 2 verse 9 and 10. In Him, in Christ, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily and ye are complete in Him.

What promise. And aside from the word fullness, you'll find in these two letters, you'll find other words like full, feel, riches, glory, and all these words, complete, perfect. All these words give us the impression of fullness.

So we believe that it is the will of God that He wants us to know His fullness. Not knowing it mentally, but knowing it experientially. Now for our meditation, for these two mornings, I think this morning we would like to ask the question, what is spiritual fullness?

Where can we find it? Is it? And then, God willing, the next session, we will meditate on how do we apprehend spiritual fullness? We do not want to know spiritual fullness just mentally. We want to personally and corporately apprehend that fullness to the glory of God.

So this morning we would like to share together, to meditate together on what is spiritual fullness. Do we know this fullness? The natural man does not know the things of God. The world does not know this spiritual fullness.

The only fullness this world knows is the fullness of sin, fullness of iniquity, fullness of violence, fullness of rebellion. That's the fullness we know. It's all negative. We have no idea of that positive spiritual fullness.

The Fullness of Sin and the Certainty of Judgment

You remember in Genesis chapter 6, during the time of Noah, God looked upon this earth. As man increased in number, God said, My spirit will not strive anymore with man because he has become flesh. The world was full of the wickedness of man.

Even the imagination of the thoughts and the heart are evil continuously. God could not bear it anymore. God said, I have to judge. And you remember, only Noah and his family found grace before God. That's the fullness the world knows.

Again in Genesis chapter 18 and chapter 19, God came to Abraham and he said, I couldn't hide anything from him because I know he fear me. And he would tell his later generations about me. And God shared with Abraham the voice of Sodom and Gomorrah rose up to heaven.

The evil of these cities was so full. And God said, I come down to investigate. And he came down to judge. Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities, they were burned with fire from above. That's the fullness the world knows.

In Genesis chapter 15, God made a covenant with Abraham, promised to give him the land of Canaan. But God said, there will be 400 years when the children of Israel will be slaves before they could possess their possession.

Why? Because the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full. How patient was our God. He will not judge before time. He will wait. His long suffering is misunderstood. But he does not want anyone to perish but all to come to salvation.

But one day, when the iniquity was full, judgment will not delay. Dear brothers and sisters, we are living in a time no better than the time of Noah. As the time of Noah's, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man.

We are living in a time no better than Sodom and Gomorrah. Maybe even worse, we are living in a time like the seven tribes of Canaan, their sin. The voice of their wickedness rose to heaven and heaven came down.

Brothers and sisters, we are living in a most perilous time, most dangerous time. All we know is violence. All we know is killing. All we know is sin, rebelling everywhere. Do you think that our iniquity is almost full?

Do you think the long suffering will come to an end? Do you think that judgment is coming to this world? This is the time we are living in. This is the day. I believe the fullness of sin, of iniquity.

Can you think mankind can degenerate so low as today? Things unthinkable, unimaginable are happening. Thank God for his long suffering. But for how long? I believe the day is coming. Judgment is at the door.

We need to wake up and be ready, be prepared. As the Bible says, when people think of what's going to happen, they are frightened to death. But dear brothers and sisters, to us, the word of God says, live up your head because your redemption draws nigh.

God as the Source of Spiritual Fullness

Thank God. But thank God. He loves us so much. He loves the world so much. He will not let us go. He gives us hope. He shows us there is a fullness which is positive, glorious, spiritual fullness, not earthly, not natural, not devilish, heavenly, spiritual.

And he wants us to know that fullness, to enter even into that fullness. Can you imagine that? But this is our blessed hope. Where can you find spiritual, not the fullness that we know on earth? I do not know how you feel.

I'm tired of this fullness of iniquity. We need a glad tidings. And thank God it's already here. So brothers and sisters, if we are going to meditate on spiritual fullness, we have to forget ourselves.

In ourselves, there is no fullness. The only fullness in you and in me is fullness of sins, rebellion, iniquity, wickedness, violence. May God deliver us from ourselves. We have to leave ourselves behind and go to the source of spiritual fullness.

Where is the source of spiritual fullness? You cannot find it on earth. You cannot find it in mankind. You cannot find it in the world. You cannot find it in yourself. It's not there. What is there is just the opposite.

So we have to return to the beginning. In the beginning, dear brothers and sisters, God is the only source of spiritual. He is full from the beginning to the end. There is no development in God. Nothing can be increased.

Nothing can be decreased. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes. He's always full to the fullest. Brothers and sisters, when you think of the fullness of the Godhead, it's beyond us.

Even with Apostle Paul, he was lost in words. He said, what length, what width, what depth, immeasurable, incomprehensible, cannot be phantomed, cannot be described. The fullness, the fullness of his love, can we fully understand it?

He knows something of love, but the love is earthly, is human, the best of men. And yet, when you compare it with the love of God, it's unlove. Only God's love is absolute, holy self-sacrificial, pouring out without reservation, love beyond measure.

When you think of his righteousness, all our righteousness are as filthy rags, cannot cover our nakedness. Oh, just like Daniel cried out, because I see your glory, my beauty turned into corruption. He fell down as dead.

Brothers and sisters, are you so righteous, so self-righteous, thinking that you are the only one on this earth that can stand before the righteous judge? You fool yourself. No one can come to the presence of God without being smitten to death.

His righteousness is the only righteousness that is right, absolutely right, pure and holy. We have no righteousness. We shall repent in dust and ashes. That's the experience of Job, the righteous man in his world, perfect, how he held on to his self-righteousness until he saw the glory of God.

He said, I abhor myself. I hate myself. I repent in dust and ashes. The righteousness of the Godhead is beyond our understanding. Think of the holiness of God. Sometimes we sing, holy, holy, God holy.

But how much do we understand God's holiness? So absolutely separate. He all stands. There is no His like, no His comparison. He is alone. He is different. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter tried to put Moses and Elijah on the eagle footing with our Lord Jesus until evening.

God said, no, there is only my beloved son. God took Moses away, took Elijah away. They look up, seeing nobody but Jesus alone. Brothers and sisters, I question myself, how much do I know the holiness of God?

God is light. There is no darkness in Him. There is no turning, no shadow, eternal light, perfect light. Brothers and sisters, light we are. We think we walk in the light, but to compare with Him who dwells in the light, who is light, our light turns to darkness.

We need to repent. We need the blood of our Lord Jesus to cleanse us. Even the tears of our repentance need to be cleansed with His precious blood. God is all. We cannot even measure His mightiness. How much do we apprehend?

We sing the hymn, mighty is His name. But how much do we experience His mightiness? We can go on and on and on because God is infinite. No limit, full all the time. Nothing can take away His fullness.

Nothing can add to His fullness. That is God. We may have a little understanding of the fullness of the Godhead. We may have a glimpse of the glory of God. But brothers and sisters, we cannot. His vastness, His greatness, His richestness, His glory beyond us.

The more I meditate on the fullness of God, the more I know nothing. I ask God for mercy. Oh, how I long to know Him. But dear brothers and sisters, when you meditate upon God, upon His fullness, you can almost say you see it from afar, dimly, but you cannot get to it.

God is a mystery. He is there, but so remote, so transcendent, far beyond our reach. We can think a little bit, but that's all. If that is the case, He condemns us instead of justifies us. The more you think about God, the more your conscience smites you.

The Incarnation Reveals God's Fullness

But thank God, He loves us. He wants to make His fullness available to us. It is not His desire to let us know a little bit of His fullness and be condemned. That is not the will of God. The will of God is that He may bless us, He may share with us His fullness.

His love is such, He wants to share it. The Word became flesh, tabernacle among man, full of grace. If God remains in heaven, He is beyond us. We are condemned. We are finished. But thank God He came into this world.

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Brothers and sisters, one day, in the fullness of time, God's Son came into this world. The Word, the expression, the full expression of God took up a human form and dwelt among man, full of grace.

Brothers and sisters, do you appreciate? Do you appreciate what God has done? This is the only hope to us. He who is incomprehensible, transcended, beyond, remote, He has humbled him. Philippians said, He who was equal with God.

And that is not something to be grasped at, because that is who He is. Forever He is. Eternally He is. Equal with God. God Himself, but the Son. For the love of God, emptied Himself. He cannot empty Himself of His deity, because that is what He is.

He is forever God, but He emptied Himself of all the glory, the position, the power, the worship, the honor, and took upon Himself aboundments. He came to the aboundment of God. He came to show us what God is.

He came to show us the fullness of the Godhead. Not a little, not almost, but full. Pleased is God to have His Godhead dwell. In Him, the fullness of the Godhead dwells. In other words, in that body, incarnated body, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in.

Nothing less, nothing more. In other words, brothers and sisters, the fullness of the Godhead has been brought into this earth, from heaven to earth, to make it visible, to make it understandable, to make it touchable.

In 1 John chapter 1, verse 1, it says, that which is from the beginning, that refers to our Lord Jesus, because He is the Word. He is with the Father from the beginning. That which is from the beginning, that which we have heard, where did we hear Him?

From the prophets, from the Old Testament. We heard about Him, that He was coming, that we have seen with our eyes. The apostle John said, we have seen with our eyes. How true it is. They saw the incarnated.

They not only saw Him, they contemplated Him. They began to understand Him, that He is not just a man, He is altogether different. He is God. God and man in one. A man that demonstrates God to us. Fullness.

We have contemplated that which we have touched, because He rose again. He could be touched. He said to Thomas, put your finger into my sight, put your finger into my eye, my hands, and see the host there, the bleeding man, the bleeding sign.

Can be touched. Dear brothers and sisters, and apostles who fellowship with the Lord, fellowship with us. They are written in the Word. Today, we can fellowship with the One who was from the beginning.

Prophesied by the prophets, came into this world, rose again in heaven. Oh, thank God. That which is intangible, incomprehensible, beyond our understanding, our reach, has already come. The Bible said, our Lord Jesus, no one knows the Father.

But the Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He declared. The prophets may declare God in a limited, small way, in pieces and bits. Here little, there little. But in the last days, the Son declared the Father in full.

The Lord said, if you see me, you see the Father. Nothing less, nothing more. It's all here. When our Lord was on earth, He was full of grace and truth. In other words, He brings the grace of God to mankind.

He brings the truth of God to mankind. When you read the Gospel of John, the whole book illustrates how our Lord Jesus, during His days on earth, full of grace, Nicodemus, came to the Lord, wanting to be taught that He may be able to do something more to qualify Him for the Kingdom of God.

But our Lord Jesus told Him the truth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, unless you're born from above, you cannot even see the Kingdom of God. Verily, the Samaritan woman, full of grace, our Lord Jesus.

If you know who is talking with you, you will ask Him, and He will give you water that will become a fountain within you, overflowing. You will not be thirsty again. Our Lord is. The man was infirm for 38 years, always hoping that one day He might be the first one to enter in the pool of the Cesta.

When the angel stirred the water and be healed, but always somebody got in before Him. Hope against hope. Hopeless. The Lord said, do you want to be healed? How sweet, how gracious. Word of truth. We can go on and on.

He brought the grace of God to mankind. He brought the truth to mankind. He is grace. He is truth. Outside of Him, there is no grace. Aside from Him, there is no truth. Every truth is in Him. Every grace is from Him.

Christ's Miracles and the Finished Work of Calvary

Brothers and sisters, this is our Lord. He has demonstrated to us the fullness of the Godhead. What mercy, what love, what grace, what truth. If our Lord Jesus should come into this world 2000 years ago, live for 33 years, showing us the grace and the truth of God, save sinners, forgive sinners, and say, I will not condemn you, sin no more.

Go in peace, touch the untouchable, heal the sick, open the blind, raise the dead, cast out the demons, demonstrate to the world the spiritual fullness. What blessing, what benefit comes for dear brothers and sisters sometimes?

Do you have this kind of feeling? Oh, if I lived 2000 some years ago, if I lived during the time of Jesus, if I lived in Judea, if I had the opportunity to see our Lord Jesus and to be touched by Him and to hear Him, how blessed I will be.

But unfortunately, I'm 2000 years too late. Can it be true? It can be true. If our Lord Jesus should come into this world, do all these things, say all these truths, and then on the Mount of Transfiguration, He exited from the world.

He's gone. If that is the case, you know what happened. Only those people who live in the time of Jesus and who have the privilege of seeing Him, hearing Him, touched by Him, they are blessed. But no more.

The fullness of God came and returned. It will still be beyond our reach. He did not exit from the world, from the Mount of Transfiguration. He could do that. Heaven will be ready to receive Him. But He refused.

He had to come down, turn His face towards Jerusalem. Death. That's what He came for. He came to die, not just to live. Because if He did not die, we all die. He alone will live. But because He went to Calvary on the cross, He sealed our redemption.

In other words, all that He said, all that He did while He was on the earth, He said it, He did it on the basis of Calvary. How can He tell an adulterous woman, I will not condemn you in peace? It is true, nobody can condemn her.

Because our Lord challenged them, He said, if anyone there is no sin, cast the first stone. And then our Lord bowed His head and wrote, in other words, He was ashamed to see these people, thinking that they are righteous, more than this adulterous woman.

But He knew they are just so from the oldest to the youngest. We who are the oldest had to exit first. Until nobody there, nobody is fit to cast the stone, except. He could do it, He should do it, He must do it, according to the law.

But He said, no, I will not condemn. On what basis? On the basis of Calvary's cross. He did not condemn her, because He condemned Himself. He took the place of that adulterous woman. I die for you, and because of that, I can forgive.

Remember what He did on Calvary's cross? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. How can He even ask the Father to forgive such an insane, crucifying the Son of God? On what basis? The righteous God could forgive.

Because here, our Lord offers Himself as our Savior. Dear brothers and sisters, everything He did on earth is on the basis of Calvary's cross. The truth, He said, is sealed by the work, finished work of Calvary.

It is the cross that consolidates everything. In other words, the fullness of God that has been brought into this world is now being sealed for eternity. People live before the Calvary's cross. They look forward to that cross to be forgiven.

People who live after Calvary's cross, we look backward and claim what the cross has sealed, confirmed eternally. Oh, brothers and sisters, the love of God. We do not need to live 2 ,000 years ago. We do not need to go back to Palestine in order to find Him.

He is now in heaven. Everything that He has done, everything that He has spoken are all available to us today. I cannot thank God enough for Calvary. He said it is finished. All is done. That which is intangible has become.

That which is remote has been brought nigh. That which is a mystery is now a revelation. So, brothers and sisters, as I meditate upon it, I bow in worship. How good is our God. But then, even though Calvary's cross is eternal, it has made all that our Lord did and said on earth, eternal truth, eternal grace.

The Holy Spirit Makes Christ's Fullness Real

But how did it come to me? The truth is there. The finished work is there. Redemption is there. Fullness is there. It is on earth. It is no longer limited by time. Timeless. Anyone, how can all the fullness become real to me?

He provides for that too. Our Lord Jesus, even before His death, He said, do not be sorrowful. I go for your sake. If I do not go, the other comforter, another comforter, will not be able to come. I was in the flesh.

I could be with you, but cannot be with you forever. But now, if I go, I will ask the Father to send you another comforter. Another one just like me. The only difference is, because I was in the flesh with you, I cannot be forever with you.

But when another comforter comes, the Holy Spirit of Truth, His Spirit, He shall be in you. He will never leave you, nor forsake you. And He will teach you all things concerning me. He will bring all things about me to you and make me real in your life.

Brothers and sisters, this is the work of the Holy Spirit. Thank God, not only there is the finished work of Christ on Calvary's cross, to make it eternal, available, finished, prepared, open. But the Holy Spirit came to bring us into it.

The Holy Spirit is the spirit of grace. He brings Christ into us, and us into Christ. So, in other words, it is by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us daily, hourly, momentarily, without ceasing, He is there, bringing all that is of Christ.

That is, to bring the fullness of the Godhead. Therefore, the Bible says, in Him, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, and ye are complete in Him. Brothers and sisters, this is the secret. We thank God the Father, we thank God the Son, we thank God the Holy Spirit.

The Unsearchable Wisdom and Glory of God

I would like to conclude by just reading one passage, because I feel that's the only thing I can conclude. Romans, chapter 11. So precious, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable His judgments, and untraceable His ways.

For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor, or who has first given to Him, and it shall be rendered to Him. For, of Him, and through Him, and for Him, are all things. To Him be glory.