WEBVTT 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:07.040 Well, for several weeks now we've been walking through the book of Ephesians. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:11.839 Paul wrote this letter to a first century congregation. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:18.960 We call this series in Christ because Paul never called believers Christians. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:21.039 That's never on his lips. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:24.320 He only refers to them as in Christ. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:26.640 Believers are in Jesus Christ. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:29.199 And we've heard that repeated again and again. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:33.920 And it's important because that's how Paul identified believers. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:43.200 But this letter is not only about being in Christ, it's a treasure trove of instruction and how believers ought to pray for other believers. 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:44.640 It's amazing. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:48.320 Remember the lengthy prayer that closed the first chapter? 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:50.320 I think Mark spoke to that. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:57.920 Well, this section, this first section of Ephesians ends as well with a prayer of Paul. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:00:59.039 And it's so powerful. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:05.359 I've been praying this prayer for years over the believers that I work with, and I love to pray this prayer. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:07.840 So we're going to go through it tonight. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:09.920 And these are apostolic prayers. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:14.879 We want to notice how Paul and the apostles, how they prayed for people. 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:16.959 It's important to take note of that. 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:21.840 When Paul came to a region and preached the gospel, he didn't leave them with Bibles. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:23.359 They couldn't do that. 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:24.560 They didn't have it. 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:28.959 But he prayed for them these apostolic prayers that were powerful. 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:34.079 And so this morning we're going to impact the apostles' second prayer in chapter 3. 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:38.719 Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 3 and we'll plunge into this. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:39.760 Hallelujah. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:41.120 I'm excited about it. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:45.680 Ephesians 3, verses 14 through 20. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:50.719 And this message is entitled Rooted and Grounded in Love. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:53.200 Would you mind standing with me as we read God's word? 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:56.959 Ephesians 3, 14 through 20. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:36.800 Verse 14, for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and earth is named, that according to the riches of glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being, 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 depth, height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:50.560 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we could 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. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:52.560 Let me read that one more time, verse 20. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:54.000 What a powerful statement. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:03.120 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:09.120 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:11.199 And everyone said, Amen. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:12.800 You may be seated. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:14.560 Praise God. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:25.120 One of the things I've enjoyed doing over the years that I've been teaching is studying carefully church history. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:35.360 I've been so enriched by becoming acquainted with how brothers and sisters throughout the ages interpreted the scriptures and lived out their faith. 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:40.240 And church history is a compendium of teaching on that regard. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:50.240 One group of believers I became familiar with as I've studied church history is the 17th and 16th century Puritans. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:55.759 They are called Puritans because they sought to purify the church. 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:58.400 And they were a specific group. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:12.080 The pilgrims that we're familiar with were a part of the the uh Puritans, but they they were called separatists because they believed that the Church of England was not redeemable and they should separate. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:14.960 And they came over to these shores with that intention. 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:18.639 Other Puritans were known as non-separatists. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:22.000 They wanted to reform the Church of England from within. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:30.160 All of these Puritans were known for their sound Bible exposition and their theological preciseness. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:36.879 But along with their emphasis on theological correctness, they were known for their intimacy with God. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:49.199 And this is something we see in when they are when we read a certain document that the Puritans left us called the Kisses of God. 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:51.839 I don't know if you've ever heard it, the Kisses of God. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:54.560 What did they mean by the phrase the kisses of God? 00:04:54.560 --> 00:05:08.079 Listen, the Puritans, for Puritans, the Kisses of God meant a profound, intimate experience of God's love and favor, a feeling of heightened divine communion that was both spiritual and emotional. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:24.720 It wasn't long before seeking an experience, it wasn't seeking an experience over doctrine, but about a holistic, heartfelt engagement with God, where doctrinal truth was meant not only to be understood, but deeply felt and enjoyed. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:25.600 I love that. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:38.240 It represented the intense, joyful connection a believer could have with God, much like the intimate and loving uh greetings in biblical stories or the love shared between spouses. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:42.319 Now, where did they get this idea of the kisses of God? 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:53.360 As the story goes, a Puritan named Thomas Goodwin was walking down a road one day, and ahead of him was a father walking with his son hand in hand. 00:05:53.360 --> 00:06:04.240 And they continued to walk hand in hand, but suddenly the father stopped and he scooped up his little boy in his arms and started profusely kissing him. 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:07.040 And this went on for about a minute. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:13.680 And he then placed him back on the road, held his hand, and continued to walk. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:24.879 And the Puritan Thomas Goodwin, who observed this, realized that his father didn't love the son more when he scooped him up and profusely kissed him with kisses. 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:31.040 He just wanted a moment where he could demonstrate the depth of his love for his son. 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:39.680 And the Puritans called this the kisses of God, based on the verse in Song of Solomon 1, verse 2. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:45.839 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine. 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:49.920 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:57.920 I don't know how many men can relate to that in this room, but they saw it as a valid experience for both men and women. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:17.279 Jonathan Edwards was considered to be a Puritan, and it says of him, Jonathan Edwards, one of the leaders of the first great awakening, reported profound spiritual experiences in which he perceived the glory and grace of Jesus as overwhelming and indescribable. 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:18.639 How many want that? 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:40.240 He viewed these encounters as moments of divine revelation, during which he all intensely sensed God's majesty, love, and beauty, often accompanied by deep emotion, tears, and a heartfelt longing to be emptied and annihilated before God so he might be filled with Christ alone. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:44.959 Now, Jonathan Edwards is considered to be the greatest intellect that America ever produced. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:46.000 Many believe that. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:47.680 But look at what he says. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:59.680 He viewed these encounters as moments of divine revelation, during which he intensely sensed God's majesty, love, beauty, and accompanied by deep emotion, tears. 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:02.639 You can be intellectual and you can be emotional. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:03.519 Did you know that? 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:09.759 I believe that what Paul was praying for these believers at Ephesus will experience. 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:10.959 That's what he's praying. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:16.879 He's praying that they will experience what he has talked about in theology. 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:26.000 By the way, Randy Alcorn, an author, said in the following letter to the Colossians, which has a similar prayer to that of the Ephesians. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:31.839 He says, as we look at this prayer, I want to take notice of what Paul didn't pray for. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:32.879 Please note this. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:34.799 This is what Paul didn't pray for. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:50.080 An elder's bout with cancer, the flu bug going around Colossi, an Asia Minor recession, kidney stones, back problems, good weather for the church picnic. 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:52.320 No. 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:57.519 Did they not have those problems? 00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:58.799 They did, sure. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:02.000 They had diseases, discomforts, financial strains, bad weather. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:03.120 And did they pray for them? 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:03.759 No doubt. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:09.679 But scripture records that uh prayers that seldom concern such things. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:17.279 They involve intercession for people's love for God, knowledge of God, walk with God, and service to God. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:20.720 That's what they were concerned with praying. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:28.960 No, essentially, there are two position positions, two petitions, I'm sorry, that Paul prayed in this prayer. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.600 I want you to consider them with me. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:37.360 First, he prays that God may strengthen them with power through the Spirit in the inner man. 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:40.879 And I hope to persuade you of how much that is needed. 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:48.240 And then, secondly, they might have they might have power to grasp the limitless dimensions of the love of Christ. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:57.519 By the way, I've heard it said and I agree with it, that the best way to understand a person's theology is by listening to him or her pray. 00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:04.720 What a person prays about the nature of God, the nature of man, is revealed by the way they pray. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:11.039 So we need to be reminded when we pray, when we read these words, that Paul isn't writing a theological treatise. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:13.200 He is praying for God's people. 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:35.600 You know, a number of years ago when I was living in Alabama, somebody brought me a book, and it was called The Odes of Solomon, a small little book, The Odes of Solomon, and it purports to be a prayer book and prayer lyrics to songs the early church sang, especially in the late first century, early second century. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:40.559 And it blew my mind when I read it because they were so theological. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:44.559 They didn't just pray, I'm being blessed, I hope you're being blessed too. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:48.080 They they prayed deep. 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:51.360 It was intellectual, it was theologically sound. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:58.080 And this is what apostolic prayer is it's how the apostles prayed for their converts. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:04.639 And again, when Paul came to a region and preached the gospel, he didn't leave a Bible with them, he had no Bible to leave with them. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:09.279 Instead, he prayed for them, and these are the ways he prayed for them. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:12.080 We should be students of these prayers. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:13.039 Amen. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:17.840 Now, this prayer has four requests which flows out of it. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:28.559 I want you to follow this, but before we look at the four requests, let's look at how Paul resumes his original prayer, which actually starts in verse one of this chapter. 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:33.519 But we notice first his posture when he prays. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:36.559 He prays on his knees, he bows his knees. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:40.720 And the normal notion posture in prayer was to stand. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:47.120 Remember in Mark 11, it says, whenever you stand praying, so Jesus said that. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:52.000 So standing was a Jewish form of prayer, posture towards prayer. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:12:00.159 And he remember the Pharisee in Luke 18, the Pharisee was standing before the Lord and in the temple. 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:09.919 And remember, but also uh there was uh moment in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus fell on his face and prayed. 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:10.720 Remember that? 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:12.159 Matthew 26. 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:18.559 In Scripture, bowing the knees, though, signifies that they may have prompted Paul to mention it. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:28.320 The kneeling posture represents an attitude of submission, of the recognition that we are in the presence of someone who is much greater than us. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:42.240 This is why the psalmist said when he proclaimed in Psalm 95, Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:53.120 Remember how when Ezra heard of the intermarriage of the Israelites with foreign women, he fell on his face, on his knees, rather, and stretched out his hands in confession to the Lord. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:13:06.879 So, and then when Daniel heard that King Darius had signed the edict forbidding anyone to pray to any God but the king, remember he continued kneeling three times a day and giving thanks before God. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:16.559 And not only does Paul tell us his posture is to bow, but he also tells us that his prayer is directed to the Father. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:18.320 And this is critical. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:26.080 This is the Father of whom all fathers in heaven and earth derive his existence, all fathers. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:34.879 This highlights that all relationships and structures, both seen and unseen, are rooted in God's fatherhood. 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:44.960 The family in heaven and earth is often interpreted to refer to the family of God, which includes both Old Testament and New Testament saints who are united as join heirs in Christ. 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:53.120 This is why the Lord taught us when we pray to begin our prayer saying, Our Father. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:14:01.519 We must know that the God we are praying to is not some uh distant, impotent being. 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:09.279 He's a God that is Father who has forgiven us our sins, and now he has made us children of God. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:13.519 So let's look at these four parts of the request that Paul offers to God for. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:18.960 Number one, the first request is for inner spiritual strength. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:20.399 Take notes of these. 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:21.679 You need these in your life. 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:24.000 Inner spiritual strength. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:31.919 That according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in his inner being. 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:35.919 At its core, this is a prayer for power. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:40.720 And already in this letter, Paul has actually asked for believers for power for believers. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:48.879 Remember in chapter one, what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might? 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:55.919 In Philippians, he he asked that he might know uh the power of his resurrection. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:58.000 That was Paul's prayer for the believers. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:00.720 They would know the power of his resurrection. 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:11.840 And by the way, this is not a prayer for naked power, like some invisible force that's going to take us by surprise, although in revival that does happen. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:19.679 The sphere in which this power is to be known is in the inner being, deep in our hearts. 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:24.480 What exactly does he mean by that phrase, the inner being? 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:32.720 To answer that, look at another passage where Paul uses the same phrase, the inner being, in 2 Corinthians 4 16. 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:41.120 He says, So we do not lose heart, though our outward man is wasting away, our inner being is being renewed day by day. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.720 Wow. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:54.320 When he says our outer self is wasting away, he is referring, no doubt, to the many years of physical hardship and persecution Paul endured. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:57.919 For example, he was beaten five times. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:10.320 Five forty lashes, but except for one, 39 was the limit, and he five times was uh experienced that pain. 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:14.799 But that's not all what Paul means when he plays says that our outer man is wasting away. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:19.200 He is no doubt referring to the simple fact that he's aging. 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:21.919 How many have discovered you're aging? 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:24.799 And don't you love it? 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:31.440 I'm sold. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:36.240 I did that intentionally. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:39.519 If you were if you were sleeping during the sermon, you're up now. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:50.159 The best way to describe the aging process is wasting away. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:52.960 Our outer self is wasting away. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:58.559 But while that's going on, at the same time, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:08.720 The believer alone lives out this dichotomy of the outer self wasting while the inner man is being renewed. 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:23.200 Paul points out this dichotomy, not only here in 2 Corinthians 4 and in the scripture in Ephesians, but he is uh talks about it in 2 Corinthians 12, how he was given a messenger of Satan to buffet him, remember? 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:32.400 So to keep me from being conceited, 2 Corinthians 12, keep me from being conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:40.880 Thorn, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a pet messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being conceited. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:51.279 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this that it should leave me, but he said, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:53.279 Someone recently asked me what that means. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:18:03.440 It means exactly what it says: Grace makes anything uh tolerable and gives us the ability to deal with it. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:09.680 Therefore, I will boast the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:12.720 For the sake of Christ, I am content with weakness. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:13.759 Listen to this man. 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:20.559 For the sake of Christ, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:23.680 For when I am weak, then am I strong. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:31.279 The second request is that Paul prays for a deepening of their faith. 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:40.240 First he prayed for power, now he prays their faith would be deepened, so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:42.880 Such an important request. 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:46.640 This is more than resident faith that comes with salvation. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:53.119 Paul is writing to Christians, and Christ took up his residence in their hearts when they accepted him. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:54.160 Right? 00:18:54.160 --> 00:19:01.279 And this is Christ being at home in one's heart. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:05.200 Two words translated by the one English word dwell. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:09.359 The one means a temporary dwelling, like staying in a hotel. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:15.279 But the other means permanent residence. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:17.279 Which one do you think Paul uses? 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:27.519 The Holy Spirit doesn't come just to bless you and leave, he comes up to take permanent residence and to dwell in your hearts forever. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:43.599 In his book, My Heart, Christ's Home, author Robert Munger describes, pictures the Christian life as a house through which Jesus goes from room to room. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:52.480 He says, in the library, which is the mind, Jesus finds trash and worthless things, which he proceeds to throw out and replace with his word. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:53.440 Thank God. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:59.759 In the dining room of appetite, he finds many sinful desires listed on a worldly menu. 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:11.759 In the place of such things as prestige, materialism, and lust, he puts humility, meekness, love, and all other virtues for which believers are to hunger and thirst. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:26.559 He goes through the living room of fellowship, where he finds many worldly companions and activities through the workshop, which where only toys are being made, into the closet where hidden sins are kept, and so on through the entire house. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:35.359 Only when he has cleaned every room, closet and corner of sin and foolishness could Christ settle down and be at home. 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:47.440 To have Christ dwell in our hearts through faith means for him to be at home in every corner of our life because we believe his promises and therefore become obedient to his word. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:55.440 The third request is that believers be rooted and grounded in love. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:57.359 Rooted and grounded in love. 00:20:57.359 --> 00:20:58.720 And I want to focus on this. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:08.240 Being made strong inwardly by God's Spirit leads to Christ being at home in our hearts, which leads to love that is incomprehensible. 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:10.960 Love is incomprehensible. 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:17.680 The result of our yielding to the Spirit's power and submitting to Christ's Lordship in our hearts is love. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:25.359 When He freely indwells our hearts, we become rooted and grounded in love. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:35.599 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. 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:39.920 We are to be settled on a strong foundation of love. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:47.119 He was not asking that they would love God more, he was asking that we would apprehend God's love more. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:53.759 It took divine strength to be rooted and grounded in love. 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:59.119 By the way, this is a prayer for the corporate church, not for individual believers alone. 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:00.559 It's for the corporate church. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:02.079 We need to remember that. 00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:10.720 Believers will personally benefit from this prayer, but we best understand it if we approach it from a corporate perspective. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:15.359 It's not about me and Jesus, it's about us and Jesus. 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:28.720 I remember when I was a new believer and I first read Acts 1.8, you shall be my witnesses, and I started my individual career for God. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:36.240 But it's not a personal prayer for me alone. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:37.279 It's for us. 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:40.000 The promises were for us and Jesus. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:47.759 We cannot comprehend the fullness of love until we are totally immersed in love, unless it is the very root of our being. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:56.240 Someone asked famous jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong to explain jazz. 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:01.039 And he replied, Man, if I've got to explain it, I ain't got it. 00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:05.440 That's a theologian. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:10.079 Same thing applies to love. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:15.440 It can't truly be understood and comprehensive until it is experienced. 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:23.599 Yet what Paul is talking about is not simply an emotional or subjective. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:26.240 It is to be rooted and grounded in love. 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:29.440 It requires being rooted and grounded in God. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:36.559 When we are saved, God's love is poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who is given to us. 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:44.559 What seems to be a contradiction, Paul says that to know the love of Christ surpasses knowledge. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:49.200 This is an experience that passes knowledge. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:56.480 Knowing Christ takes us beyond human knowledge because it is from an infinitely higher source. 00:23:56.480 --> 00:24:11.440 Again, Paul is not speaking here of knowing the love we are to have for Christ, but the love of Christ, his very own love that he must place in our hearts before we can love him or anyone else. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:16.000 We are commanded to love because he has given us love. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:23.359 God always gives us what he commands in return. 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:27.519 And love is one of the greatest gifts that's been given to the church. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:35.200 The fourth request is that he would be filled, they would be filled with all the fullness of God. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:36.079 Think about that. 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:40.480 Paul's praying for believers to be filled with all the fullness of God. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:42.000 What does that mean? 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:51.039 It means the inner strengthening of the Holy Spirit leads to the indwelling of Christ, which leads to the abundant love, which leads to God's fullness in us. 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:54.160 This is an indescribable request. 00:24:54.160 --> 00:25:01.200 To even begin to grasp the magnitude of that truth, we must first think of every characteristic of God. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:09.279 Paul is not exaggerating when he prays for this fullness because he asks for it repeatedly throughout this letter. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:18.880 The Greek word for fullness is the word plero, P-L-E-R-O, and it means to make full or be filled to the full. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:28.559 It's used throughout the New Testament, and it speaks of total dominion, total dominance by another force, total dominance. 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:35.680 To be filled to the fullness of God means to be totally dominated by God. 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:40.480 It is to be emptied of self and filled with God. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:47.519 How many want to be filled with God so that he has dominant control over your life? 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:50.720 That should be our prayer for all of us. 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:55.599 This is clearly stated in the Ephesian letter. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:25:57.839 Here, Paul talks about the fullness of God. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:01.680 In Ephesians 4, 13, he talks about the fullness of Christ. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:06.799 In Ephesians 5.18, he talks about the fullness of the Spirit. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:13.039 And we are to experience all three of those: the fullness of God, the fullness of Christ, the fullness of the Spirit. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:18.160 This is to be totally satisfied with God alone. 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:22.880 And the only way it'll happen is if we ardently pursue Him. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:24.960 That's how it will happen. 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:35.599 If we pray for Him to strengthen us with power by His Spirit, by the inner man, Christ will be at home in each room of the heart, like we read earlier. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:42.000 If Christ occupies our heart, we will have confidence and security and we'll be able to love others. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:47.920 The ability to know God's love and thus love others leads to the fullness of God in us. 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:57.920 What a God we have who loves us so much that he will not rest until we are completely filled with Him. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:09.759 Now, Paul ends with a doxology, an ending that is completely sufficient for this passage. 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:24.720 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond 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. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:25.680 Amen. 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:33.359 There is one way to conclude this apostolic prayer, but with an anthem of praise. 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:41.759 And we see three things in the doxology: God's sovereignty, God's omnipotence, and God's glory. 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:44.720 God's sovereignty, omnipotence, and glory. 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:49.440 Let's start with God's sovereignty. 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:55.759 It means that God can do more, far more abundantly than we ever ask or think. 00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:58.400 Has God ever blown your mind with what he does? 00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:01.440 It's good to have your mind blown. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:12.720 He says our prayers can be answered far beyond even what we ask or think. 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:17.119 I got a couple examples of that, from the old one from the old, one from the New Testament. 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:18.960 First, from the old. 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:25.279 Israel escapes Egypt in the Exodus, and they come, and where does God lead them to? 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:32.559 Right against the Red Sea, where they are up against the sea on one side, and there's no way they can get for go forward. 00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:41.759 And to make matters worse, when Pharaoh sees and hears that they're now caught, he musters his chariots and goes after Israel. 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:47.759 And so Israel sees their enemies coming from one angle and the Red Sea blocking the way. 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:49.599 And you know what God does? 00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:55.759 He does what no one imagined, exceedingly abundantly beyond what we could ask or think. 00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:57.839 He opened the Red Sea. 00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:01.759 You think Israel said, We know, we're standing here, we know what God's going to do. 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:03.279 He's going to open the Red Sea. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:05.039 We're his people. 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:06.720 They had no idea. 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:13.039 And God did something far more abundant than they could ever ask or think. 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:20.240 A similar water story appears in the New Testament when Jesus is taking a snooze on the boat. 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:22.559 He had told the disciples to go to the other side. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:24.559 He's taking an afternoon nap. 00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:33.599 And suddenly, which is common into the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Galilee is a storm comes up on it, and they're about to be capsized. 00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:36.640 And Jesus is super superfluous. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:42.000 And they wake him. 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:43.279 And remember how they waked him? 00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:47.279 They said, Lord, do you not care that we are perishing? 00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:49.759 It was an indictment against God. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:52.400 Do you not care? 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:55.680 And he woke up and said, Why are you afraid? 00:29:55.680 --> 00:30:01.119 And he said, literally in Greek, he said, Shut up to the wind and the rain. 00:30:01.119 --> 00:30:05.119 The one who controls the rains and winds can do that. 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:08.240 And then what happened? 00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:15.440 A great calm came over, and they were uh delivered from the storm. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:21.839 Again, God did what was far more abundant than they could ask or think. 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:27.279 But we need to be clear where Paul says this power operates. 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:33.200 He says, according to the power that works within us. 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:43.599 It's not out there only, but it's in here that the primary place that G Paul tells us the Spirit is working. 00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:46.960 It's primarily sanctifying prayer. 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:54.960 God doesn't work from without to within, but starts within and works without. 00:30:54.960 --> 00:30:58.640 And we see that in the Philippian epistle. 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:12.000 You know, Paul says in verse 12 of chapter 2 of Philippians, therefore, my beloved, as we have always obeyed, so now not only is in my presence, but much more in my absence, work at your salvation with fear and trembling. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:12.480 Why? 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:18.319 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:19.599 It's God. 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:26.400 So Paul speaks in this passage of God's power working with us. 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:30.240 It's not a power we control, it's a power that controls us. 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:38.319 If we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we have the most powerful force in the universe dwelling in us. 00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:39.440 Do you know that? 00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:48.960 And then Paul says it's also God's omnipotence is revealed in the doxology. 00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:52.319 Here's a theological definition of omnipotence that I love. 00:31:52.319 --> 00:32:03.680 God is an omnipotent, means God possesses unlimited power and is all-powerful, capable of doing anything logically possible and consistent with his own nature. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:16.400 This concept implies divine control over the physical and spiritual realm, the ability to create, and the power to fulfill his will, which is understood to be good and wise. 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:20.960 For believers, God's omnipotence is a source of great comfort. 00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:26.240 We should be comforted by his omnipotence because it signifies that he is in complete control. 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:31.599 And he will use his power for good according to his love and wisdom. 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:42.640 He used his omnipotence to bring Jew and Gentile together, as we saw in chapter 2 and 3, and form them into a dwelling of God through the Spirit. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:49.279 And then God's glory is revealed in this doxology. 00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:52.240 His sovereignty, his omnipotence, now his glory. 00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:55.759 The Greek word for glory is the word doxa. 00:32:55.759 --> 00:33:00.000 It means glory, majesty, and honor. 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:03.279 Ultimately, everything God does. 00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:06.400 How many know everything God does is for his glory? 00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:10.079 The power of God displays his glory. 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:14.640 All that God has done is to resound to his glory forever. 00:33:14.640 --> 00:33:18.880 When we worship, we are giving God the glory that is due to Him. 00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:22.480 We don't come to worship to receive something only. 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:30.960 We come to because God is getting the glory, and we want to join in with every created being in the universe to give him glory. 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:35.119 Notice how Paul puts God's glory in the church before Christ Jesus. 00:33:35.119 --> 00:33:39.680 He says, Paul does not put the church before Christ in Ephesians 3.21. 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:43.920 Rather, he connects them in a single unified expression of glory. 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:50.960 The phrase in the church and in Christ Jesus indicates that God is glorified through the unified community of believers. 00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:52.799 And we are in union with Christ. 00:33:52.799 --> 00:34:04.880 This highlights how the church is God's masterpiece of grace, a testament to his glory throughout the generations, visible in uniting all believers under Christ. 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:06.000 Wow. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:14.400 Notice the phrase all generations, to all generations in the doxology. 00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:15.920 That's a long time. 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:20.880 We talked much in this church about how God is a generational God. 00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:22.079 Why do we talk about it? 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:24.400 Because God is a generational God. 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:27.280 Why is that important? 00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:32.000 Because He wants every generation to receive the glory to his name. 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:33.440 Every generation. 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:36.559 And this is followed by the phrase forever and ever. 00:34:36.559 --> 00:34:41.599 If you thought to all generations was long, how about the phrase forever and ever? 00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:43.039 It's even longer. 00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:48.320 This means there will be no end to God receiving glory. 00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:49.599 There is no end. 00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:56.719 Fourteen times in the New Testament, it says, to Him be the glory forever and ever. 00:34:56.719 --> 00:34:57.760 To Him be the glory. 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:00.480 But it appears prominently in the Psalms. 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:06.320 Psalm 145, Psalm 145, 6, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. 00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:08.800 And how about Psalm 145? 00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:13.760 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:18.000 Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:19.920 His glory is in Christ. 00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:21.280 You know what God glories in? 00:35:21.280 --> 00:35:23.119 Glorifying Himself. 00:35:23.119 --> 00:35:26.000 That's what He glories in. 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:32.320 And there are a number of places in the New Testament that reveal how the glory of God is seen in Jesus. 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:36.400 But my favorite is the book of Hebrews, chapter 1, verse 3. 00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:40.000 It says, He is the radiance of his glory. 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:41.440 He is the radiance of it. 00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:44.559 You know what the Greek word for radiance is? 00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:48.159 It's the Greek word for shining or brightness. 00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:54.639 What the rays of the sun are to the sun, so it is that God shine. 00:35:54.639 --> 00:35:59.920 The Son of God is the brightness of the Lord shining. 00:35:59.920 --> 00:36:03.519 How many of you have ever seen the sun? 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:05.920 You've not really seen it. 00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:17.360 I mean you can glance up in a moment for a moment and look at it, but go out sometime in June or July in Knoxville, and at noon look up and stare at the sun for 30 minutes. 00:36:17.360 --> 00:36:25.360 You've never seen the sun, nor have I. 00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:26.000 Why? 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:27.039 It's too bright. 00:36:27.039 --> 00:36:29.920 But the sun is seen by its rays. 00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:36.639 And it this tells us not only about the sun, but tells us what the Christian life is, essentially. 00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:39.679 The Christian life is like getting a tan. 00:36:39.679 --> 00:36:45.920 I'm serious. 00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:51.360 Because you just lay there and let the sun's rays bake your skin. 00:36:51.360 --> 00:36:55.440 And when you get back, everybody knows in the office that you were in Fort Lauderdale. 00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:58.000 Which I was just there. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:00.480 Can you tell? 00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:08.480 But he goes on and says, He is the radiance of his glory, the exact representation of his nature. 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:10.480 The exact representation. 00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:12.159 Now I want to blow your mind. 00:37:12.159 --> 00:37:20.480 The word in Greek, there's one single word that's translated in the English Bible by the exact imprint of his nature. 00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:22.719 It's the Greek word character. 00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:26.559 And it was used of the imprinting of coins. 00:37:26.559 --> 00:37:29.440 You know, I have a quarter in my pocket. 00:37:29.440 --> 00:37:33.039 I've never seen the original, but I don't need to. 00:37:33.039 --> 00:37:33.599