Go with me if you would back
to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3. Our text
is going to begin in verse 13. But the Apostle Paul said in
verse 1, For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner,
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. Paul was in prison when he wrote
this letter to the Ephesians. And he told them in the letter
how thankful he was for the fact that God called him to preach
the glorious mystery of the gospel. So thankful. He called it the
unsearchable riches of Christ. unsearchable riches. And he told them in verse 13,
Wherefore, I desire that you faint not at my tribulations
for you, which is your glory. He said, don't faint. Don't faint,
don't be discouraged over the things that you see happening
to me. Sitting there in prison. He said in verse 11, it's all
according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus
our Lord. It's all on purpose. That's what
he told him. It's all on purpose. Don't faint. Don't be discouraged. It's all
on purpose. It's all for the furtherance
of the gospel. It's all for the good of God's
people. So he said, be encouraged. Because
I'm praying for you. That's what he's saying in the
text. I'm praying for you. Verse 14. He said, for this cause, I bow
my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. of whom the
whole family in heaven and earth is named." He said, I bow my
knees in prayer to God our Father. I'm praying on behalf of every
person that He chose to include in His
family. Every person that He chose to
adopt into the family of God. That's who I'm praying for. I'm
praying for God's elect. I'm praying for God's precious
elect. And he said this is what I pray
for him. Verse 16. That he would grant you according
to the riches of his glory To be strengthened with might by
his spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith. That you being rooted and grounded
in love. May be able to comprehend. This is what I'm praying for
you. That if God's Spirit would strengthen the inner man, and
if Christ would dwell in your hearts by faith and root you
and ground you in His love, I pray you may be able to comprehend.
I pray God would open your mind, your heart, your soul, and let
you have some comprehension as you finish out your course through
this life. I pray that God would give you some comprehension of,
He said in verse 18, that you may be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth, and the length, and the depth,
and the height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge. that you might be filled with
all the fullness of God. I say this with all sincerity.
What Paul is praying for the Ephesians, I pray for you. And
I include me in you. I really do. Paul said, I pray
that He would grant you, and I want to really have a moment.
I want to emphasize this. I pray that He would grant you, not just sinners, I mean you. I really pray, and when I was
studying all this, I thought in my brain, I was sitting in
my study, I thought, I literally want to point people out, but
I'm not going to do it, because I pointed everybody here. I mean
you. Paul said, I pray He would grant
you. He said, I pray that Christ may
dwell in your heart. Not just the hearts of men and
women. Not just the hearts of the elect. He said, I'm not praying
that Christ will dwell in the heart of His elect. I want Christ
to dwell in your heart. You. He said, I pray that you be rooted
and grounded in His love. I want you to be rooted and grounded
in His love. I pray that you might be filled
with all the fullness of God. One man said, and this is so
good, he said, I cannot know Christ through another man's
mind. I cannot love Him with another
man's heart. I cannot believe on Him with
another man's faith. I cannot hear Him with another
man's ears or see Him with another man's eyes. He said, I pray that
He will reveal Himself to me. That He will come and dwell with
me. That Christ may be formed in
me. Not just my parents. Not just
my brethren. Me. You. Paul said, I pray that God would
grant you. According to the riches of His
glory. What is His glory? What is God's
glory? What is God's glory? If you had
to cut right to the heart of it. What is God's glory? People
talk about the glory of God. Oh, the glory of God. What is
God's glory? He will have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. He'll have compassion on whom
He'll have compassion. Paul said, I pray that He shows
mercy to you. I pray He does. I pray He grants. That means freely given. If you
receive a grant, you don't have to pay it back. I pray He grants. I pray He freely gives mercy
to you. I pray He does a work of grace.
A work of grace. Free gift. Grace on the inner
man. Not a work of doctrine. Not a
work of doctrine. Not a work of outward form. Just
an outward show of religion. Paul said, I'm not praying that
you just become a better church goer. Although I do pray that
that happens too. And I also pray that God would
teach us correct doctrine. But Paul said, that's not what
I'm praying for. I'm praying for a work of grace
on the inner man. For by grace are you saved. A true work of grace. I pray
God moves on your heart. I pray God moves on my heart. Verse 16, He said that He would
grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened
with might by His Spirit in the inner man. If a work of true
grace is going to be performed on the inner man, the soul of
a man or a woman, then God's Spirit is going to have to perform
that work. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Paul
said, I pray that God might perform that work. I pray He saves you.
I pray He saves me. Then in verse 17, He said that
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Christ in us is the
hope of glory. The evidence, the way that we
know that Christ is in us is we believe. We believe Him. We believe in Him. We believe
on Him. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Paul said,
I pray that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. I pray that he might cause you
to believe on him. and evidence the salvation of
your soul. And I pray the same thing for myself. I pray that
God might cause me to believe on Christ and evidence the salvation
of my soul. Then he said in verse 17, I pray
that you being rooted and grounded in love, rooted like a plant
into the ground. You dig a hole, you set a plant
in it, you cover the roots up with dirt. If you immediately
decide, I don't want this plant right here, I don't like this,
I shouldn't have picked this spot, all you have to do is pick
it up. But if you leave it there for
a while, if it stays there a while, and
if it really starts to soak up the light of the sun, if it really
starts to drink that living water that God rains down, if it really
becomes united with the nutrients of that soil, it'll become rooted. It'll lay hold of, it'll dig
in and lay hold of what is life to it. This is life to me. Paul said, I pray that you, being
rooted and grounded in love, The love of Christ, the love
of God toward sinners. This is life to me. I pray that
you say this is life to me. The love of God toward sinners. He said, I pray that you being
rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend. I hope that's my hope come the
end of this that we might have just just a small comprehension. and understanding, I pray we
might enter in and know. He said in verse 18, with all
the saints, what is the breadth and length and depth and height
and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. He said, I pray God would reveal
a little bit of the unimaginable to you. Unimaginable. If we could comprehend something,
if the inner man could just enter into something of the breadth,
oh the breadth, and the length, and the depth, and the height
of the love of Christ for his people. Wouldn't you love to
just dig in just a little bit, just get slightly rooted in the
love of Christ for His people. Paul said if we could do that,
we would be filled with all the fullness of God. Alright, let's look at each one. Number one, the breadth. The
breadth of the love of Christ for His people. Now, knowing
something of God's sovereignty, We know something, and we've
seen something in the Word, of God's absolute sovereignty, haven't
we? Knowing something of God's election, choosing who He would save, in
particular, Knowing something of Christ's
limited atonement for those people. He died only for the ones the
Father chose. Knowing that God said there is
only one way of salvation. And God said it is a straight
and narrow way. Knowing that, that naturally
leads us to believe that the love of Christ is narrow. That's what this flesh first
thinks. Because the way is so narrow, our flesh naturally believes
that the love of God is narrow. But it is not. It is not. There will never be a sweeter
story. Story of the Savior's love divine. Love that brought him from the
realms of glory just to save a sinful soul like mine. Boundless
as the universe around me. Reaching to the farthest soul
away. Saving, keeping love, it was
that found me. That is why my heart can truly
say. Love beyond our human comprehending. Paul said, this is my goal for
you. This is what I'm praying. I pray God might give you some
ability to comprehend. Just get some grasp. Love beyond
our human comprehending. Love of God in Christ. How can it be? How can it be? This will be my theme and never-ending,
great redeeming love of Calvary. The boundless, far-reaching breadth,
the width of the love of Christ for sinners. Paul said, in Christ,
all spiritual blessings in all heavenly places. All places. Every place. Everywhere you go. His salvation reaches all the
way out to the uttermost, wherever the uttermost is. His love is
so wide. If sin abounds at the uttermost,
His love and grace will much more abound. His love goes over
the uttermost. There is no place that a sinner
could be where the love of Christ could not reach him. Sometimes,
men and women will get into a state where they're so distraught,
they think they're so far gone. We all say, prone to wander,
Lord, I feel it. But sometimes we go so far out,
we think, I'm too far gone. I'm now too far gone. I've done
too much, I've thought too much, I've said too much, I'm too far
gone. There is no place that a sinner
could be where the love of God couldn't reach him. No place. Look with me at Isaiah 33. I
love this. Isaiah 33. Isaiah 33, verse 20. Look upon
Zion, the city of our solemnities. Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem,
a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down.
Not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither
shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious
Lord, don't you love it when he's called the glorious Lord,
will be unto us a place of broad rivers. Broad of spaces, the margin says. Wide rivers and streams wherein
shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass
thereby, no enemies coming in. For the Lord is our judge. The
Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our King. He will
save us. He will. The breadth of the love
of Christ that reaches all of His chosen people. How wide it
is. Alright, now let's enter into
the length of it. Go with me to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. That's the breadth
of it. Every place. Verse 4 says, According as He
hath chosen us in Him before the foundation, of the world. Where does the length of the
love of Christ start? Eternity past. That's where it
starts. Eternity past. He said, I have
loved you with an everlasting love in both directions. From eternity to eternity. When will God's love for us run
out? When will He say, that's it,
no more? When will He say that? Just listen
to this. John 13 verse 1 says, Having
loved His own, which were in the world, He loved them to the
end. He loved them to the end. Now,
when is the end? There's not one. There's not
one. The eternal length of the love
of Christ for His people. How could we comprehend it? How
could we comprehend it? An everlasting love. Do you know
if I belong to him and if you belong to him, did you know that
he thinks on you and me? I have a relationship with Hannah
and I think on her. Sometimes I'll tell her, I've
been thinking about you today. That the relationship we know
as husband and wife is so dead and so non-existent compared
to the relationship of Jesus Christ to His bride. And He has
thought about you. David said, how great are the
sum of your thoughts toward me. If I tried to count them, it
would be more than the sand. The everlasting love of Christ
toward His people. There's no way our minds could
comprehend the breadth of it and the length of it. Alright,
what about the depth of it? How low did Christ's love go
for His people? Paul told the Philippians, he
said, Though Christ was equal with God, He condescended down,
He came down and took upon himself the form of a servant." Though
he was God. He took upon himself the form
of a servant. He made himself to be in the
likeness of men. The likeness of men. He made
himself to be like us. David said, when I consider the
heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which
thou hast ordained. What is man? What is man that
thou art mindful of him and the son of man that you would visit
him? I can't believe you came all
the way down. To be like us. To visit us and
be like us. Job said, how abominable and
filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water. Just drinks
sin like water. That's the likeness that he took
upon himself. How far down he had to go to
be made in the likeness of sinful man. But he didn't stop there.
Not only did He take upon Himself the likeness of sinful man, He took the sin of sinful man
upon Himself. He took the guilt of sinful man. Do you ever feel guilty about
anything? So did He. He took the shame of sinful man
upon Himself. He said, Father, these sorrows
are more than I can bear. You know, we've all done enough
in our own lifetime to just drive us to the greatest depression.
Could you imagine piling a number that no man can number? All the
sins of all of His people. He took the blame upon Himself. He wore it. He bore it. He pressed
it inside Him. But He didn't stop there. Ephesians 1 verse 7 says, In
whom we have redemption through His blood. What does that mean? Romans 5 verse 8 says, Let me
just listen to this. I'll turn and read it to you.
Romans 5 verse 5 says, Hope maketh not ashamed because the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which
is given to us. The love of God. For when we
were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commended His love toward
us." If we want to know something of the depth of the love of Christ
toward us, God commended His love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. down into the grave. The depth of the love of Christ
toward His people, He took it all the way down to the grave,
but He didn't stop there. He said to His Father in Psalm
16, and this is so holy, I fear saying it, I honestly, the scripture
talks about trembling. I tremble saying it. I say this
with such reverence. He said in Psalm 16 to his father,
thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. He endured. How far did God's
love go down? How far did the love of Christ
go down? He endured the hell His people were supposed to suffer.
According to the law, according to the judgment of God, had to
suffer. Why would He do that? Why would
He go that low? Why would it be that deep? It
has everything to do with the height of His love. Ephesians
2 verse 4 says, But God who is
rich in mercy, rich unto all, that's the breadth, rich, he said it, to every tribe,
nation, tongue, kindred, people. For his great love wherewith
he loved us, that's the length, Because it went from eternity
to eternity. Verse 5 says, even when we were
dead in sins, He hath quickened us together with Christ. That's
the depth. We were quickened together with
Him in His death. The end of verse 5 says, by grace
you are saved. And He hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That's the height. How high does
the love of Christ for His people go? All the way to the throne
of heaven. Not only has His love given us
the boldness to approach the throne, But verse 6 says we're
going to get to sit in it with Him. Paul told Timothy we're
going to reign with Him. How on this earth do you comprehend
something like that? How can it be? How can it be? Paul said, my prayer for you
is that you might be able to comprehend something of this
great love. How could sinful flesh ever comprehend
the breadth and the length and the depth and the height of the
love of Christ for his people? Well, we can't. Not in this sinful
flesh. But here is a story that may
help us just a little bit. I heard this and I'm going to
pass it along to you. How can it be? How can it be? A family went to worship the
Lord one Sunday morning. And on the way, As usual, the
little boy in the family was bouncing all over the place,
running all over the place. Little girls do that too. But they got there and they sat
down and God blessed the message with
great liberty. God sent His Spirit. God sent
His Spirit. God sent the one thing needful
for true worship. God sent His Spirit. And He blessed the Word in spite
of that preacher. God's Spirit opened the ears,
it opened the hearts of all the people and they heard and they
entered into substitution. Substitution. The substitution of the Lord
Jesus Christ for His people. They heard the breadth, they
heard the length, they heard the depth, they heard the height
of His love in taking their sin upon Himself. Completely putting
away every sin. completely putting away every
sin that his people would ever commit by the one sacrifice of
himself. One sacrifice for all. On the way home, the little boy
who was usually all over the place, he was very quiet, he
was walking with his head hanging down and his dad noticed it and
he said, son, do you feel okay? Yes, sir. He said, well, is anything wrong?
No, sir. He said, I'm just thinking about
what the preacher said. And his dad said, really, what's
that? And he said, well, I was just
thinking, I can't understand how the death
of one man could put away so much sin. The preacher said, because of
our sin, we all have to die. How could the death of one man be enough for all of us. If we all have to die, how could
one man die for all? His dad said, hmm. Didn't know what to say. So they
kept on walking. And in just a minute, he stopped.
Tapped his son and he said, look right there. Beside the sidewalk there was
a grasshopper eating a blade of grass. And he stooped down
with his son and he said, How many grasshoppers do you think
it would take to equal the life of one little boy? And the little boy said, I don't
think all the grasshoppers in the world would equal the life
of one little boy. And his dad, coming from church,
opened his Bible to Isaiah 40, verse 22. And he said, Son, the
God who sits on the circle of the earth is the one who came
down. And it says right here that all
the inhabitants of the earth are counted as grasshoppers. And by the sacrifice of one man, All of his grasshoppers are saved. There's so much value in this
one man. All of them completely saved. If we could ever comprehend in
the inner man, if the inner man, the soul, could ever comprehend
the breadth and the length and the depth and the height of the
love of Christ toward his grasshoppers, worms, then we would be filled with
all the fullness of God. All the fullness of the grace
of God. All the fullness of the mercy
of God, all the fullness of the salvation of God, all the fullness
of the love of God is in Christ Jesus. It is in the love of the
Lord Jesus Christ for His people. My prayer is that the Lord may
allow us to comprehend just a small piece of that. I pray He might
do a work of grace on these hearts. I pray Christ might dwell within
us by His Spirit. I pray He might root us and ground
us in the love of Christ that passes knowledge. And He might
fill us with the fullness of God. I pray that for each one
of us. May He make it so. Alright, let's
all stand together.