I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the Book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 3. If you're using the pew Bibles in front of you, that can be found on page 1160, 1160. I received the call from Reverend Gordon this afternoon and didn't have much time to wrestle with what to preach, but uh, the Lord always has a plan. So, um, I'm going to preach here. We're going to read and consider from Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 down to verse 21. Ephesians 3, beginning at verse 14:
"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through 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. 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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
Well, I considered this afternoon what exactly to preach on, and this is one of my favorite sermons. I'm always blessed by giving this sermon, and you may have heard this sermon before, but I'm sure that you will be blessed again in me giving it. This sermon is on prayer. On prayer. It was Charles Spurgeon who once said about prayer that he would rather teach one man to pray than 10 men to preach. He would rather teach one man to pray than 10 men to preach. That's a pretty telling admission coming from a man who was such a great preacher.
Prayer is a vital part of being Christians. Through prayer, God ordains to supply us with what we need, and he also ordains to use prayer to shape us and to strengthen us. Prayer is, as our catechism says, the most important part of our thankfulness to God. prayer the most important part of our thankfulness to God. And so, I always think that it's a great privilege to consider the prayers of Scripture, to spend some time meditating upon the prayers of those who have gone before us.
Well, tonight we have the privilege of peeking into the heart and mind of the Apostle Paul as he brings a prayer for this church at Ephesus. So I want to consider three things with you tonight in regards to this text: what Paul prays, why Paul prays, and to whom Paul prays. What Paul why Paul prays, what Paul prays, and to whom Paul prays.
Paul begins chapter three this chapter with the same words that he begins here in our text in verse 14: "For this reason." And it would seem to me that there in verse one, he's trying to get to the words of this prayer for this church. He says there in verse one: "For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, on behalf of you Gentiles." And then he goes off on what I would describe as a beautiful tangent a tangent about him being a prisoner for Christ and how his chains should not be a discouragement for this church at Ephesus because the Lord is even using his chains to spread the message of the gospel. But now in our section, he is back to his original thought: "For this reason, I bow my knee before my knees before the Father."
What reason is that? Well, the reason he bows before the Father is pretty much all that he has said in chapters 1 and 2. And what did Paul say there? Well, let me summarize it for you. What we have in chapters one and two are some of the most beautiful passages of all of Scripture. There Paul says that before time began, God in love, and according to the purpose of his holy will, predestined us for adoptions as sons and daughters through the Lord Jesus Christ, to the praise of his glorious grace. And as such, God has decided to bring Jew and Gentile into one new humanity, one new man brought together by the the mediating power of Jesus Christ.
Paul says, removing any of the hostility that existed between the two people's groups prior to that, constituting them together as this new humanity who has access to God the Father through the Spirit. And what Paul says in chapter two is what this means: is that Gentiles are no longer aliens and foreigners to the covenant of promise, but they are now fellow citizens with God's people, members of God's household, built upon the foundation of the apostles. And then Paul uses this analogy of a of a temple christ himself being the chief cornerstone of
This structure that's being joined together, a holy temple in the Lord, a dwelling place of God by his Spirit. This is the reason that Paul now in chapter 3 bows his knees before the Father. What reason specifically? The reason that God is at work. God is building a new people a new humanity. God is at work and He's doing a work with feeble, weak, sinful people who were never considered His people in the first place. And He's making a new humanity out of those people. And Paul sees this work materializing right before his very eyes. This is why Paul can be in chains, in prison, and yet he's comforted, knowing that the Gospel is spreading. The ministry is bearing fruit. God is at work. And this fires Paul up.
This is Paul's very ministry, is it not? He was called the Apostle to the Gentiles. This church at Ephesus is probably made up of both Jews and Gentiles, but likely mostly Gentiles. And so Paul now bows his knee before his Heavenly Father for this continued work among this church and among the churches.
Now, this work began by Paul and the other apostles. As verse 20 tells us of chapter 2, this new humanity built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Christ being that cornerstone. That work continues today, does it not? It does. It does. The Gospel ministry, the work of God to draw all kinds of different people to himself, that continues today. And we as a church have the great benefit of participating in that work. We participate in that ministry. That work, which Paul was a part of, has continued for over 2 000 years, and it's made its way across oceans and lands to this very place: Escondido, California, where we now are. And this ministry has shaped each of us and our families. It has called us and our families out of the world and into God's family.
And this is what was prophesied in the Old Testament, was it not? That the nations would be gathered to the Messiah. This is exactly what Jesus prayed for in his high priestly prayer when he prayed: "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you."
I think it's easy for us at different times to take for granted those Christians who came before us those Christians who came before us and put in the hard and difficult work so that us today would know the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I've mentioned it to you before, but I often think about the man who shared the gospel with my mother, who led my mother to faith, which then led to my father's conversion, and of course led me and my brothers to be raised in a Christian home. I'm so thankful for that man. I'm thankful for the ministry that he was under. I'm thankful for those who went before him. Those who prayed for the ministry that he was under. Aren't you thankful too, today? Thankful for those who participated in the Gospel ministry, those who prayed for this ministry? Pray that that ministry might reach the pagan people of Europe? Pray that that ministry would reach all across the Americas? Aren't you thankful for those who prayed for this ministry of the gospel to sweep across the globe? I certainly am, and I pray that you are as well.
Because now, as those who have benefited from this work and ministry and the prayers for this work ministry, we too are called to pray like paul to pray for this ministry. Because that ministry and work continues. It's been a work and ministry entrusted to us as a church. And so we too need to bow before our Heavenly Father and ask him to bless the work that we are about here in Escondido. You are see, the work to call people out of darkness into his marvelous light, to call sinners out of the world to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
You see, if Paul had a great reason to pray, it's safe to say that we too have a great reason to pray.
It's noteworthy that Paul here refers to God as his Father. In verse 14, he says: "For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven on earth is named." God is the Father of the family of God, the whole family both in heaven and on earth. He's the Father of the saints at Ephesus at this time. He's the Father of the saints in Asia at this time. He's the Father of the saints in Europe, in Africa, in America. He is our Heavenly Father if we, by trust, by faith, trust in his Son Jesus Christ.
And if he is our Heavenly Father, and you know what this means? This means that in our prayers, we can come to him boldly and confidently, knowing that he desires to hear our prayers. And if we ask according to his will, we will indeed receive all that we ask for. Now, that doesn't mean that we get whatever we ask for. Notice I said "if we ask according to his will." James says: "We have not because we ask not." And then he says: "You ask not and do not receive because you ask wrongly."
But when Jesus prayed, we know that Jesus always prayed, "Thy will be done." And when we pray according to the will of God, we can be sure that we will indeed receive what it is that we pray for because God's will will always be done. And that's part of prayer, you see. Prayer is not primarily about asking God for what we want, what we desire, or even need although we do, and we should when we do pray. And we pray according to God's will, what begins to happen is our prayers begin to shape us. They begin to mold us. Our prayers and our prayer time begins to mold and shape our wills after the will of our Father in Heaven. That's what prayer is primarily about: shaping our wills after the will of our Heavenly Father.
Spurgeon also said this about prayer: "He said, true prayer is the trading of the heart with God." I thought that was a beautiful way to put it: true prayer is trading our heart with God. What is it that's hitting here, Casey? Do you know? Yeah, let's do that. Okay.
We can see that Paul's prayers had shaped his life. We see that particularly here in what it is that Paul prayed for. And that's our second point this evening.
The Bible tells us in the eighth chapter of the book of Romans that at times we don't know what to pray for or how to pray, and so the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And then Paul says that the Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. We don't often know how to pray or what to pray, but Paul here gives us a good example of what to pray for.
Paul basically prays for one thing for these Christians in Ephesus. That one thing is strength. He prays that these Christians would be strengthened. Verse 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."
And then again, in the second half of verse 17: "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 of the love of Christ, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge."
You see, the Christians at Ephesus would have been under tremendous amounts of pressure because of their pagan past. Their past was full of occult practices, magic, witchcraft. It was strongly believed in that day that these practices were a necessary part of life, and that without them one was vulnerable to the spirits that exercise power over every area of life. And so for this reason, it's important that Paul prays for strength for these Christians.
He first prays that they be strengthened with power from the Holy Spirit. Paul prays for strength, but notice the source of that strength in verse 16. It's none other than the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. There is no greater source of strength and power for a Christian than the Comforter himself.
Paul's emphasis on the Holy Spirit here as a source of their power and strength would have stood in stark contrast to what these Christians formerly believed. Again, in that day, power was thought to be something of an impersonal force that could be harnessed and manipulated, controlled by occult practices, something kind of like electricity. The power and strength of God, however, comes to us personally. Personally! Through God himself, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the one to which God has granted as a gift to his people.
You may know this, but the Greek word for Holy Spirit is the word "Parakletos." I don't often like to use Greek from the pulpit, but I think the term "Parakletos" might be well enough known. But furthermore, this word can often be translated as "Comforter," "Counselor," "Advocate." But really, in the most literal sense of the term, paracletos it can be translated as "one who comes alongside to help." The Holy Spirit, Christian, is the one who comes alongside to help us. He is our helper. He's the one who supports us, who preserves us, who empowers us, who strengthens us.
And just like the Christians at Ephesus, we too need the Holy Spirit, do we not? We certainly do.
Now, I think we know that we need to pray for the work of the Spirit in our lives. But maybe as Reformed people, we're a bit apprehensive to do that. Given all that has been done today in the name of the Holy Spirit, maybe we're a bit apprehensive to ask for the work of the Spirit to bless us. But Paul understood that these Christians needed the work of the Spirit in their lives. And we should as well.
Brothers and sisters, pray for the work and ministry of the Spirit. Pray for that work and ministry in your lives. Pray for the work of the Spirit in the life and ministry of this church. Are you in need of strength tonight? Are you in need of encouragement? Are you in need of support? The Spirit of God is available to us for all of that.
Now, it's important to realize here what the Holy Spirit uses to strengthen the Christian. Paul says in verse 16 that the Holy Spirit works according to the riches of God's glory. Now, what is that? What are the riches of God's glory? Well, the riches of God's glory are none other than what God has promised us in Jesus Christ.
If you would, if you still have your Bibles open, notice, look over to chapter 1, verse 18, where Paul again prays for this church at Ephesus, and he uses a very similar term there. He says in chapter 1, verse 18: "That you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, What is the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints?"
Paul uses this phrase in some form again in Philippians 4:19, where he says: "My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus."
The riches of his glory are all that has been promised to us in Jesus Christ. It's our election, our adoption, our redemption. The forgiveness of our sins. The inheritance that we have. All of which we can summarize as the Gospel of salvation. That's what the Holy Spirit uses to strengthen us. What's been promised to us in Jesus Christ. The good news of the Gospel is what gives us a proper perspective on our lives. It's what strengthens us in times of difficulty and challenge. And life can often be difficult and challenging, can it not?
Now, notice further that what Paul prays here reveals a purpose for his prayer. The purpose of Paul's prayer is seen in verse 17 when he says: "So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." The point, the purpose, the aim of this prayer of Paul for these Christians is that Christ might dwell richly in the hearts of these believers through faith.
The key to what Paul is saying here in his purpose is the word "dwelling." The word "dwelling" means to reside somewhere permanently. Now, I know a few of you have recently moved. Some of you are moving into Metal Brook at this very moment. When you move into a new house, a new apartment, a new cottage, you walk in and the rooms are just empty, right? The walls are bare. And then you move in, you begin to dwell in this place. You begin to reside in this place. And you begin to put up pictures on the wall. You begin to have furniture. And these places that we live in begin to reflect us, don't they?
The same can be said of Christ dwelling in us. When God strengthens us through His Spirit so that Christ might dwell richly in us, He's talking about shaping us, fashioning us, forming us more and more after the image of Christ. What Paul is speaking of here, quite simply, is Christian growth. He's talking about Christian maturity. He's talking about growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the purpose of Paul's prayer for these Christians. That they would grow, that they would mature, that they would be shaped by him, conformed to him, strengthened in him. Now, isn't that our desire? I think it certainly is. If you're a Christian here tonight, if you claim the name of Christ, then it's natural for us to desire to mature and to grow. Again, this is a great thing to pray for. Pray that the Lord would use the Holy Spirit in your life to grow your faith, to mature you in Christ. In fact, I would say that prayer is the first step in that very process. Pray. Pray regularly. Never cease to pray.
Well, Paul continues his prayer in the second half of verse 17 when he says: "That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the states what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge."
This is a petition for Christians to again be strengthened, but now to be strengthened to understand the unlimited love of Christ. This part of the prayer presupposes what Paul has already spoken of in chapter one, where he says in chapter 1: "In love, God has predestined us. In love, God has predestined us."
Paul's not calling for these Christians to be rooted and grounded in love. He knows that they already are. But assuming that they are, he is praying now that they would more fully grasp the limitless nature of the love of Christ for them.
When you think about what Paul is praying here, it's quite astounding. I think we live in a day and age where we would probably more likely pray that our love for Christ would increase. A good prayer for sure. A necessary prayer. Something that I encourage you to pray. Something that I pray. But it's not what Paul prays for here.
Paul prays here that these Christians would better grasp the love of Christ for them. I think Paul prays this because he realizes that when we have a better grasp of the love of Christ, our love for Christ necessarily increases.
You see, at times we can focus so much on our love for Christ that we neglect to focus on Christ's love for us. And sadly, we don't fully grasp either one. But you see, our love for Christ depends upon our grasp of how wide, how long, how high, how deep the love of Christ is for us. That's why Paul is praying this. It's like what Jesus said: "To those who are forgiven much, they love much."
In the same way, those who have been loved much, love much.
So let me ask you tonight: Do you know how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Christ loves you?
Well, I'll tell you: it's wider than we could ever know. Longer than we can grasp. Higher than the highest star. And deeper than the deepest depths of the ocean. Christ's love, as Paul says here, surpasses knowledge. It surpasses understanding.
You see, Christ loves us with an eternal love, Christian. He loves us with an everlasting love. He loves us with a love that doesn't depend upon us.
Think about that. Think about that in comparison to the love that we often have for each other, or the love that we have for the Lord. Our love in no way can be described as an everlasting love, an eternal love. And oftentimes our love is dependent upon how people treat us or love us. But not Christ's love.
Christ's love is a kind of love that can't be comprehended. Christ's love is something of a paradox for us, isn't it? It's beyond us. We can't quantify it. It's not something that can be measured, weighed. It's not something that can be fully understood.
But Christian, Christ does love you. He loves you with an everlasting love. He has shown you the love that he has for you by coming to this earth, living a life for you, suffering throughout that life, and then offering that life upon a cross. Jesus Christ, God himself, came to this earth to show the extent of the love that he has for us.
Now, that's love that surpasses knowledge.
Do you know this love, Christian? Do you know it? I pray that you do. I pray that you would be strengthened to know the unlimited, incomprehensible, paradoxical love of Jesus Christ for you.
Well, the last two verses here in our text make up a doxology. But in this beautiful doxology, Paul reveals to us the one to whom he prays.
This is a great prayer, is it not? It's a prayer that I believe all of us would love to have fulfilled in our lives. A prayer for strength, growth, maturity. And the truth of the matter is, this prayer will be fulfilled in our lives. What we have in this prayer is something of a summary of the Christian life. a summary of Christian growth. It's a summary of the process of God applying Jesus Christ and his benefits to the heart and soul of a believer for the sake of growing them and maturing them in Christ.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is indeed God's will for us: our sanctification. The question really is: Is it our desire? Is this our desire? Is this what we desire more and more? I pray you say yes. And maybe you do say yes, but you do so with a hint of doubt.
You see, after hearing this beautiful prayer of Paul, I can imagine it could be difficult to imagine a prayer like this being fulfilled in your life. You don't see yourself being strengthened with power from the Holy Spirit according to the riches of God's glory in Jesus Christ. You don't see yourself growing to the point of Christ dwelling richly in you. You don't see yourself being strengthened to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ.
Well, that's okay, brothers and sisters in Christ. Because the truth is, it doesn't depend upon us. The very reason we pray for such things is because it depends upon God. It's God who must act. It's God who must act in us and through us.
What can we do? We can pray. We can pray for this very blessing that Paul is praying for this church. We can desire it like Paul does for these Christians. We can get down on our hands and knees before our Heavenly Father and cry out to him.
And you know what? Our Heavenly Father not only desires to give these things to us, to give these blessings to us, but He is able to do so. We aren't able to effectuate what Paul describes here, but he is. He is our confidence. He is our trust. He is our hope.
He is, as Paul says here in verse 20, the one who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.
Listen to those words, Christian. Allow those words to settle into your heart. Our God is the one who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.
That is the God to whom Paul prays. The one who is able to do all things. All things.
Notice how Paul here piles word upon word in order to communicate and describe as best as he can God's ability. My friend, your God is able. He is capable. He can do all of his will. He is the God of the impossible. He is the God who does the impossible.
Just read any page of Scripture and see the work of the Lord. doing impossible things like they were nothing. Nothing is too small for him. Nothing too big. Nothing can stand in his way. Nothing can thwart his plan. Nothing can resist his will. No power, no sin, not even death itself can prevent God from carrying out his will.
And this is his will: What Paul prays for here, our sanctification. That we will be mature and grow in Jesus Christ.
Because the God who is able to is the God who has begun a good work in us, and he will bring that work to completion. And we know that this is his will because if we are Christians, Paul describes here that that work has already begun.
Paul says here: "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."
God is already working in us. He's already given us power. He's already strengthening us. He's already working these things right now, working these things out in each and every one of us.
And again, he who began a good work will bring that work to completion. He's the God who doesn't just start a good work. He's a God who completes and accomplishes each and every task that he sets out to. That's who your God is, Christian.
So brothers and sisters, be encouraged tonight. Like Paul, although he's sitting in prison praying for these Christians, be encouraged not because of who you are not because of the strength of your faith be encouraged because of who God is the god of all glory the god of all power the god who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we could ever ask or pray.
Let's bow before him now.
Lord, what glorious truths are communicated in this text! What an encouragement to us, Lord, to come before you more often than we do, to never cease to pray! Lord, we thank you for prayer itself. What a rich blessing prayer is, Lord, to always have access to the God of heaven!
Father, move in each of us. Use these words. Use this text by your Spirit to impress upon our hearts to come before you, Lord, and to pray in confidence and with boldness because of who you are. We thank you. We thank you for the love that you've lavished upon us in Jesus Christ, making us your very own children. We pray tonight that you would continue further the work and ministry of this church. We pray this all in Jesus name. Amen.