| Introduction We have a tendency to pray for our physical needs. We pray for Jenny's cancer and Jonny's financial struggles. We pray for job opportunities and good grades at school. We should pray for these things since we are told to bring everything before God in prayer. This passage, however, reminds us that there are other things – perhaps even more important things – that should dominate our prayer life. Here we learn to pray for the presence of God in our lives and that we would know the love of Christ. Paul teaches us that in four petitions. I. The First Petition: to Be Strengthened by the Spirit, 16. A. First of all, notice the measure that Paul asks God to use: the riches of his glory. 1. This expression could be rephrased as "according to his glorious riches." 2. This means that Paul is asking the Father to strengthen the Ephesians according to everything that makes him glorious. 3. In essence, Paul is asking the Father not to pull any stops in strengthening the Ephesians. "It is not power to the exclusion of his mercy, nor his mercy to the exclusions of his power, but it is every thing in God that renders him glorious, the proper object of adoration." Charles Hodge 4. Therefore, Paul is asking the Father to use everything that makes him God to strengthen the Ephesians. B. Secondly, notice the agent of such strengthening: the Spirit. 1. Although the Spirit has many duties, his main responsibility is to exalt Christ. Jn. 16:13-15– However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. 2. Therefore, the Holy Spirit strengthens us by pointing us to Christ in every aspect of life. a. He enlightens our understanding of the Scriptures. 1 Cor. 2:14– … the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. b. He empowers Christians to boldness, love, and self-discipline. 2 Tim. 1:7– For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 1 Cor. 6:11– And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God d. He produces fruits in us. Gal. 5:22-23– But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. e. He intercedes for us in our ignorance. Rom. 8:26-27– Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 3. Through the strengthening of the Spirit, then, we are enabled to become more than conquerors in all things through Christ Jesus. 4. So, we need to pray that we and our brothers and sisters would be strengthened by the Spirit. C. Thirdly, notice what is strengthened by the Spirit: the inner man. 1. Some interpreters have suggested that the inner man is the higher capacities of the person such as intelligence and emotions as opposed to the fleshly needs. 2. However, it is more coherent with the Scriptures the understanding that the inner man is our soul, our nature, who we are, the core of our being – that is what is being strengthened. 2 Cor. 4:16– Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. II. The Second Petition: to Be Indwelt by Christ, 17a. A. Our omnipresent and infinite God is said to dwell wherever he wants to make himself known. 2. He dwelt among the children of Israel. 4. He dwells with him who has a humble and contrite spirit. 5. He dwells in his people. 6. Sometimes it is God who dwells with his people, sometimes it is the Spirit of God who dwells with his people, sometimes is the Spirit of Christ, and sometimes as in our passage it is Christ himself. B. Because we have a Triune God, the presence of one person is the presence of all persons of the Trinity. C. To have God in Christ dwell in us, then, means to be united with him. Gal. 2:20– I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 1. Now, Paul is not praying that the initial union with Christ that happens at salvation take place among the Ephesians. 2. He is praying that their union with Christ be made evident. 3. That all would indeed see Christ in them. Phil. 1:21– For to me, to live is Christ …. D.Notice that Christ's place of abode is the heart. 1. The two common ways the word "heart" is used in the Scriptures are to represent the feelings as opposed to the understanding, and to represent the whole soul or nature, including intellect and affections. 2. It is in this second sense that our passage uses the word "heart." 1 Kg. 3:9, 12– "Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?… [B]ehold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you." Pro. 4:23– Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. "According to the Bible religion is not a form of feeling to the exclusion of the intellect, nor a form of knowledge to the exclusion of the feelings. Christ dwells in the heart, in the comprehensive sense of the word. He is the source of spiritual life to the whole soul; of spiritual knowledge as well as of spiritual affections." Charles Hodge E. Notice that the instrument through which Christ dwells in the heart of the Christian is faith. 1. How important is faith in Christ? Romans 3:21-30 gives us a very good idea of the importance of faith (justifying faith – the initial indwelling of Christ). 2. But faith is not only important for justification, but also for sanctification (the continuing indwelling of Christ). Rom. 5:1-2– Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. F. In summary, when Paul prays that Christ may dwell in the Ephesians, he is praying that Christ would have complete control of their lives, that in all things Christ would have the preeminence, and that Christ would be seen in them. III. The Third Petition: to Know the Love of Christ, 17b-19. A. The first step to know the love of Christ is to be rooted and grounded in love, 17b. 1. The word translated "rooted" is a farming word. a. The farmer would want his plants to have good roots, penetrating deep into the soil so that they could get the best nutrients. b. A well-rooted plant is also stronger – it is able to withstand stronger winds and longer periods without water. c. Perhaps Paul had in mind Psalm 1 when he wrote this verse, a psalm that portraits the Christian as a well-rooted tree that brings much fruit. 2. The second word used by Paul is a construction word that means being established in a firm foundation. 3. So, the fertile soil and the firm foundation we are to be established on is love. 4. This is a consequence of the indwelling of Christ through faith. 5. What love is this that Paul is talking about? a. This is not so much the love for God or for Christ, as it is the ability and willingness to love. b. As a result of Christ's dwelling in us we are made able to love. 1 Jn. 4:19– We love because he first loved us. c. As we exercise this ability, we become more and more able to love, thus being rooted and grounded in love. B. As we are rooted and grounded in love, we are made to understand the love of Christ, 18-19. 1. Before we can go any further, we have to figure out what the phrase love of Christ means. a. Grammatically it can either mean Christ's love for us or our love for Christ. b. However, the context demands that we understand the love of Christ as his love for us. 1) We already know our love for him. 2) Paul would not have needed to pray that God would reveal the Ephesians' own love for Christ to them. 2. So, Paul prays that the Ephesians would know the love that Christ has for them. C. Notice how much of the love of Christ for his people Paul wants the Ephesians to know, 18. 1. Paul prays that the Ephesians would know the width, length, depth, and height of the love of Christ for them. 2. Different interpretations were given to these dimensions throughout the centuries. For example: a. Augustine thought these dimensions were allusions to the cross. "By the breadth of it we may understand the extent of it to all ages, nations, and ranks of men; by the length of it, its continuance from everlasting to everlasting; by the depth of it, its stooping to lowest condition, with a design to relieve and save those who have sunk into the depths of sin and misery; by its height, its entitling and raising us up to the heavenly happiness and glory." 3. Yet, it is better to interpret these dimensions as representing the fullness of the love of Christ, every aspect of it. a. The idea is the grandeur of the love of Christ for his people. b. It cannot be exhausted "…however much one comes to know of the love of Christ, there is always more to know: it is inexhaustible." F.F. Bruce c. Even after 1,000 years of drawing from the well of Christ's love, there is still love left for thousands more. 4. Paul's prayer is not only for the Ephesians but also for all saints, both Jew and Gentile. D.Notice the type of love that Christ has for his people: it passes knowledge. 1. Here we find a paradox, Paul prays that the Ephesians would comprehend the love of Christ that surpasses comprehension. 2. In what sense than is the love of Christ understandable and in what sense it is not? a. The love of Christ cannot be known by the unregenerate. b. But to the regenerate, Christ gives his Spirit so they know the love he has for them. c. However, even the regenerate, the Christians, those who belong to Christ, will never fully know the totality, the completeness, the extent of Christ's love for them because it is the love of an infinite God for his people. E. What manner of love is this? 1. It is selfless and self-giving. Jn. 15:13– Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. 2. It is faithful and secure. Rom. 8:35-39– Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 3. It is a sanctifying love. Eph. 5:25-27– Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. F. How do we find out more about Christ's love for us? 1. First and foremost we must be in him, we must be saved. 1 Jn. 3:1– Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. a. This is the only way to come to know the love of Christ. b. The gospel is the grandest demonstration of Christ's love for his people. 2. Second, we must grow in it. a. We get to know more of his love for us by the work of the Spirit through the means of grace. b. We get to know more of his love for us by obeying him. Jn. 14:21, 23– He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him… Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." 1 Jn. 4:12– No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. Jn. 13:34-35– A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. Jn. 15:9-17– As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another. IV. The Fourth Petition: to Be Filled unto the Fullness of God, 19b. A. Our translation is a little misleading at this point. 1. It gives the idea that we are to be filled with the fullness of God, which is an impossibility because we are finite and God is infinite. 2. What Paul is conveying goes as follows: he is praying that the Ephesians be complete unto the fullness of God. B. The fullness of God is the standard or measure for our completeness. 1. The idea is that we are to be completed by what is godly, what is a reflection of God. 2. This can only be done in Christ because in him dwells the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form (Col. 2:9). 3. Thus our standard of completeness as humans is God's fullness. Conclusion
May the Father grant us, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man. May Christ dwell in our hearts through faith. May we, being rooted and grounded in love, be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height of the love of Christ which passes knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
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