Ephesians 3. I want to read three
verses to us this morning, beginning in verse 14. Paul says, 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, that he would grant
you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened
with might by His Spirit in the inner man. Strengthened with
might in the inner man. I think if there's one thing
that you and I stand in great need of, and stand in need to
practice more of, it is prayer. It would be prayer. The disciples
said, Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us how to pray. We need
to be taught how to pray. But we need to be taught just
to pray. Just pray. Paul gives us the
attitude of prayer here in verse 14. He said, I bow my knees.
And I think he's speaking there more just the position of his
body or some gestures that he would make in spreading out his
hands. He's speaking here of the attitude
of prayer. What is our attitude when we
approach unto the Lord? Let us bow down. Oh, come and
let us bow before the Lord, our Maker, humbling ourselves under
the mighty hand of God. Prayer is made up of so many
things. Paul began here by acknowledging
who our Father was. I bow my knees to the Father.
What a good way to begin prayer. Who is the Father? He's the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Father because He is
Christ's Father. He is our access into the Father's
presence. The Lord Jesus said, when you
pray, begin with the Father. Say it like this, Our Father
who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, glorious be Your name,
holy be Your name, reverent be Your name. When we begin, where
do we begin our prayer? We begin by telling God that
He's eternally different than we are. Our Father in Heaven. You're in the heavens, but we're
here upon this earth. You're our Father. We're your
children. You're the Creator and we're
just creatures. You're holy and we're sinful. You're the Savior and we're the
sinners. What is prayer? It's just talking to the Father.
Telling out to Him who He is and what He's done. He likes
to hear it, doesn't He? I never will forget when the
apostles went to prayer during the book of Acts and how they
began their prayer and how they prayed. They just simply all
bowed their hearts and said, Lord, Thou art God. You made the heavens and You
made the earth and the sea and all that in it is. Doesn't He
know that? Well, of course He knows it.
But He likes to hear it from us. And what a good way to begin
a prayer. Begin by recognizing Him and
who He is, and what He's done, and what He's promised, and what
He's going to do yet. Prayer is made up of just coming
before our Father in Heaven and telling Him who He is. Begin
in that way. It's made up of thanksgiving.
Philippians 4, 6 said, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything,
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God. Brothers and sisters,
here's where you and I, I'm sure, come so short in our prayer. It should be filled with thanksgiving.
If we ask as we are told to, Lord give us today our daily
bread. When He does, let's be thankful.
We pray daily, forgive us our debts, forgive us our sins. When He does, let's be thankful. Pray with thanksgiving. Hebrews
13, 15 says, Let us offer the sacrifice of
praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips,
giving thanks to His name. Brother Glenn taught us last
week about where the Lord Jesus said, Herein is my Father glorified,
that you bring forth much fruit. Here's the fruit. Here's a part
of that fruit. And what is it? It's the fruit
of our lips, giving thanks unto His name. And I tell you, brothers
and sisters, You won't find anybody that's more worthy of your thanksgiving
than our Father, which is in heaven. Prayer is made up of
request. Let your request be made known
unto God. Paul begins here with it, doesn't
he? He recognizes the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and then he begins with this request. I was in this fellow's home one
time. I was staying with him. The only time I ever stayed with
this man. And bless his heart, this one time did me. But I was
in my bedroom, minding my own business, down on my knees praying,
because I had to preach that day, and he comes busting in
unannounced, never locked on the door. And he says, you know,
I'm not much of a praying man myself. He said, you know, God
knows anyway. As if we had no sense. As if
we never read that verse ourselves, that your Father knows what you
have need of before you pray. We've read our Bibles, haven't
we? We've gotten a little sense. We know that. He already knows. But we've read this verse here
too. Let your requests be made known. He wants to hear it from
our lips and from our hearts. You and I should never think
that God grows weary with hearing our request. The Lord Jesus Christ
came all the way down from heaven to teach us to knock at our Father's
door, to teach us to ask of our Heavenly Father, and to seek
of our Heavenly Father. And I think if the Father in
heaven would have begrudged our request, then He had never sent
His Son to tell us to ask. I love Jabez's prayer. He said
that Jabez called upon the name of the God of Israel. And he
said, O that thou wouldst bless me indeed. God can bless a man,
Katie. That you would enlarge my borders. That your hand would be with
me. That you would keep me from evil.
That it be not grievous to me. And the Scripture says that God
granted him His request. I love this word here that the
Apostle uses. Grant. Grant. I bow my knees
and I pray to the Father that He might grant you. We hear a lot about this today,
this very word. You have someone in college and
they seek a grant. You have your community seeking
a grant. for some project they have. Or
you have a university seeking a grant to do some study. You
know why they seek a grant? You know what's the difference
between a grant and a loan? You don't pay a grant back. You
can't reimburse. You're not required to repay
a grant. Webster gives an emphasis on
this word grant. To give or to bestow or to confer
without compensation without repayment. Wouldn't it be an
awful thing if you and I went to our Father in Heaven to ask
Him a request and we had this thought in our minds that somehow
or another we could repay Him? Wouldn't that be an awful attitude
to have? Do you think He gives us anything
with the intention of our being able to repay Him? To compensate
Him for it? Oh, we praise Him for it. We
thank Him for it. But how in the world can you
compensate Him? How can you repay Him for what
He gives you? Look here what He says, that
He would grant you according to His riches. His riches in
glory. How can you repay such riches
as that? James says this, If any man lack
wisdom, let him ask of God that gives to all men liberally, bountifully,
freely, and largely. I like the word liberal. I don't
like it when it's used today. But I tell you, when you go to
the Scripture and you find the word liberal, it's got a good
meaning there. God is a liberal God. He gives
largely. He don't tax and spend. But I
tell you, He just spends and spends and spends. He is so rich
and He gives us liberally, James said. And I like this word he
said, He upbraideth not. When we go to him, sometimes
we think, oh, how we abused the last thing you gave us. We didn't
use the last thing you gave us very well, and we're half ashamed
of ourselves. But he don't upbraid us. He don't
cast that in our teeth. He don't chide with us and accuse
us. What does he do? He just gives
us more. My dad, when I was in school, for some reason or another,
my dear dad made me beg for lunch money. And I would get up every
morning and have to beg my dad for lunch money. I gave you a
quarter yesterday morning. Just a quarter. Gave you a quarter
yesterday morning. What did you do with that? I
said, Dad, they charge me a quarter every day. But every morning
I had to go through that. Our Father in Heaven is not that
way. He gives to all who live brotherly. And He never upbraids. Oh, Paul said, I bow my knees
to the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and I pray to Him that
He might grant you, He may give you freely and liberally. What? Grant you according to the riches
of His glory. You can't repay that, can you?
You can't repay that. You're too poor to pay that back.
You and I can never pay that back. Do you know why God can
just keep on giving? and never be diminished, because
He's rich. He's rich. Listen to some of
these verses. My God shall supply all your
needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus talked about the
true riches. This is the true riches. Listen
to this. Ephesians 2, verse 4, God is
rich in mercy. That's rich. Romans 2, verse
4, He's rich in goodness. He's rich in wisdom and knowledge. Oh, the depths of the riches
of the wisdom and knowledge of God. He's rich in grace in whom
we have redemption for our sins through the riches of His grace.
In chapter 3 verse 8, Paul talked about the unsearchable riches
of Christ. He's so rich, you can't search
them out. John the Revelator talked about,
worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and honor and strength and glory and blessing. These
things are in Christ. He has received them. And what
does He do with them? He grants them to us. He bestows
them upon us so freely. And Paul said, I pray that God
would grant you according to His riches. There is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all who call upon Him. So when we go, when we go to
this bank, you just write you out as big a check as you want
to. Write you out as big a check as your faith will let you pin
down. And you hand it in to Him, and I'm telling you what, He'll
never bail. Because He's rich. He's rich. Moses said, I count even the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.
Even the reproach of Christ, suffering with Christ, is greater
riches. What will His glory be to reign
with Him? I pray to my Father that He'd
grant you, according to the riches of His glory, look at this, to
be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. To be reinforced, that's what
that word says, with might. with mighty power, with miraculous
power. The power of what? The power
of His Holy Spirit. I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me. Isn't that a wonderful verse?
Just to think upon, where do we get our strength? It comes
from without ourselves. This blessed person, the third
person of the Trinity, God, Christ, dwells within us. And that Spirit
of God within us, He strengthens us with might. Listen to these
verses. Isaiah chapter 40. Have you not
known, have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord,
the Creator of the ends of the earth, never faints? And He's
never weary? There's no searching of His understanding? He giveth power to the faint? And to them that have no might,
He increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait
upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up
with wings like eagles. They shall run, and they'll never
grow weary. And they shall walk, and they'll
never faint. Why? because they'll be strengthened
with might by His Spirit in the inner man. This world that you
and I live in is looking to escape all its troubles and all its
trials. Most people today, I would dare
say, in religion, their religion is all about just being delivered. They just want somebody to deliver
them from their temporal sufferings and their temporal trials. I
bet you there's never been a generation in the history of this country
that is so mentally weak and emotionally weak as the generation
that you and I live in right now. They cannot endear to think
about suffering. I mean, they'll bag, they'll
bag from the neighbors, they'll bag from the government, they'll
borrow and they'll steal just to relieve any amount and any
degree of their suffering. What they're seeking after more
than anything else is just to be comfortable. That's what we
want at any cost, just to be comfortable. You know something
about this generation? It's not Christian. And I tell
you, he'll never be Christians with an attitude like that, I'm
telling you. Because when Christ calls us,
when He saves us, He sets us right down in the midst of the
battle. And here's what He says to us.
You're going to suffer for my sake. You're going to fight with
the gates of hell. It's going to be all you can
do to endure the battle. You're going to endure hardness
as a good soldier. And the only way you're going
to endure, the only way you're going to continue is this way,
by my strength that I give to you. Now, that's the other way. Here's the difference between
the world's religion and Christianity. The world is just seeking a deliverance
from their tribulation, from their trouble. And the Lord's
people go through the trouble. They go through the water. They
go through the fire by the strength of the Lord that works in them.
That's the difference. He may never deliver us out of
a lot of our troubles here, but I'll tell you what He does. He
gives us strength to go through. Those three Hebrew children said,
the Lord may not deliver us from that fiery furnace, but He'll
give us strength to go in there. And that's what we're after,
ain't it? Strengthen with might. with might by His Spirit in the
inner man. Be strong in the Lord and in
the power of His might. When I was a young Christian,
I used to read those passages in the Old Testament that talked
about the strong people, the mighty people. And I kept thinking,
who in the world is that? That's not me. I can't even hardly
put one foot in front of the other. I'm ready to have a nervous
breakdown. I'm not strong. And then I begin
to read these Scriptures. Be strong in the Lord and in
the power of His might. I glory in my infirmities, in
my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Brothers and sisters, we endear
by strength that's given to us. We've seen in the Sermon on the
Mount, when we studied that passage of our Lord's preaching, that
it's impossible to be a Christian until God makes you one. And
it's impossible to live the Christian life apart from His strength. And Paul recognized that. And
you and I recognize that. And aren't you thankful that
we're allowed and encouraged to go and say, Father, Father,
I'm weakness itself. Strengthen me with might by Your
Spirit. Did you ever try to lift something
heavy and you get it up just a little bit and you drop it?
It's just too heavy for you. And then somebody comes along
beside of you and both of you just up it goes. This is something
like that, only this is better. This is different, and it's even
better. The Lord Jesus comes into our hearts, the heart of
every believer, by His Spirit, and He strengthens the inner
man and makes him strong. And then when he grabs the load,
he lifts it up, because the Lord has strengthened him. Paul said,
when I'm weak, in myself, then am I strong. The Lord makes me
strong. And when He strengthens us, then
we can believe. Then we can repent. Then we can
run and not grow weary. We can walk and not faint. We
can hope. We can love. We can be patient. We can endure hardness. We can
do all things through Christ. who strengthens us. Ain't that
a wonderful text? Just wonderful to think about.
Strengthened with might. Where are we strengthened? Well,
he tells us in the last portion. Strengthened with might by His
Spirit in the inner man. In the inner man. You know the problem with a lost
person. They don't have this inner man.
That's the whole problem with a lost person. He doesn't have
an inner man. You say, Bruce, he has a conscience.
Well, sure he has a conscience. Everybody has a conscience. But
that's not the inner man. Look here in chapter 4 and verse
22. He tells us something about this
inner man, who he is, and how he got his being. Look what's
said about him in verse 22 of chapter 4. that you put off concerning
the former conversation, your former lifestyle, the old man,
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed
in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
Where did this inner man come from? God created him. God made him. If any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature. He is a new creation. Peter spoke
of it like this, the same thing, being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of the incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. We have a new creature within
us. And I'm telling you, this new creature is just as real
as the old man. The new man is just as real and
just as viable as the old man. When we were born into this world,
we were born of corruptible seed by means of your daddy and your
mommy. That's the way we have our being.
We come into the world, we can see, we can smell, we can hear,
we can feel, We can breathe. And it's the same way with this
new man. He is born of this incorruptible
seed. And he's a vital person. He's
a real person. Paul calls him a man, doesn't
he? And you know something? He is just as real and vital
as this first person. He can see. Can't you see now
things that you've never seen before? Can't you hear things
now that you never heard before? You feel now differently, don't
you? You know differently now. You
have different loves. You have different desires. You
have life. Without this inner man, without
this new birth, there's no life. You see, when we talk about the
new birth, we're not just talking about God dealing with us differently
in our experience. We're not just talking about
God teaching us. We're not just talking about
us believing things that we've never believed before. And doing
different and thinking different. All that is true. But I tell you there's a greater
difference than that. We're barned again. There's a
creature inside of us. There's a new man inside of us
that never existed before. Now, if you go outside the Scriptures
and you use Scriptural terminology, you may confuse us. But if you
and I will stay in the Word of God when we deal with a subject
like this, then all of this issue will be cleared up. Who is this
new man? What did I just read to you?
that He's created in righteousness and true holiness. What does
that tell us? God is not in the business of
remodeling. He's not in business of teaching
the old nature. That nature is against God. It
cannot be taught. It cannot understand the things
of God. So what happens? He gives us a new man. He gives
us a new birth in this inner man. That's the man that's created
now in the image of Christ. That's the man that hears His
voice. That's the man that believes. That's the man that loves. That's
the man that breathes. How can you be holy? We're told
to be holy. How can you be holy if you don't
have a new man within who is created in righteousness and
true holiness? Yeah, the Lord holds this old
body up. If He don't, it will fall. But I tell you, here's our prayer.
And here's who the Lord strengthens. He strengthens this new man.
He strengthens this inner man. He's a new creature. He's born
of God. But He can still grow weak. But
the same One who created him and give life to him strengthens
the life that He gives. I pray for you, the Apostle said,
that God would grant you to be strengthened with might by His
Spirit in this inner man. Do you recognize that you have
an inner man? I know you don't look within
and say, I see him in there. Yeah, I see him in there. If
you start looking within to see this man, you'll never see him.
Because you know who it is? It's you. The new man is you. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. You're the new creature. The
only thing now, you're two people, you see. You have this old man
that's perishing, this outward man. But you have this new man,
which is renewed day after day. That's why you have this warfare.
Before, you see, we just had one man. That was this old man. You didn't have an inner man.
I said, that's the problem with lost people. They don't have
this inner man. But now you have the inner man.
And therefore, at the same time that you say, oh, wretched man
that I am, you can also say, I delight in the law of God after
the inner man. You're both of them. You're a
mystery, aren't you? Aren't you a mystery to yourself?
Used to be you weren't a mystery to yourself, but now you're a
mystery to yourself because you're two people. You're two people. You have this inner man that
loves and desires and believes and walks and follows. And he
feels the strength of the Holy Spirit upholding him. in these
things. And then you have this old man
that's doing everything he can to weaken the new man and to
keep him down and to keep him discouraged. And I tell you,
the new man has the advantage over the old man. And you know
what it is? He has the strength from on high.
That's why the old man is perishing. He's getting weak. That's why
you're having pains that you never had before. That's why
you get sore when you swing the axe a few times. That's why you
lay around a lot and get sorry. The old man is wearing out. He's
just wearing out. But what about this new man?
He'll never grow old, will he? Oh, he just grows more hopeful.
He delights more now in the Lord than he ever did. The more he
knows about Him, the more he loves Him. And he just grows
more hopeful all the time. And he says within his heart,
I tell you, I'll just never be satisfied until I awaken his
likeness. And you know something about
this new man? He'll never die. The Lord says, he that liveth
and believeth in Me shall never die. Don't you imagine those
that stood there around that day and heard that? They thought,
man, this guy's lost it. Lazarus just died. Lazarus believed
in Him and He's gone. Look at all the fathers. Look
at Abraham. Look at Isaac. Look at Jeremiah. They're dead! The Lord said, No, they're not.
What was He talking about? This inner man. This new man
that's created in righteousness and true holiness. He'll never
die. He'll just leave this old man,
this old friend. And He'll go to be with Him who
created Him. And wait for the resurrection.
Brothers and sisters, you and I just want enough strength to
get this old man by. Lord, just hold me up. I don't
want to be sick. I don't want to be weak. I don't
want to be diseased. But Lord, grant me strength in
my inner life. Why do you want that? I want
it for this reason, to live to your glory. to follow you, to
honor you, to be about your business in this world. That's why. Oh,
ain't it a glorious thought? Ain't that a glorious thought?
Don't it make you see, too, that it's hopeless trying to be a
Christian when you're not one? You just can't be a Christian.
Because what is being a Christian? It's to have this inner man.
Where do we get this inner man? He's begotten of the Father.
God creates him. Don't disavow your heart in amazement
and appreciation and admiration that the Father in heaven has
given you a new birth. Here you were just going along,
just like everybody else. His enmity in your mind by wicked
works. Ignorant, so ignorant. And in some mysterious way, He
began to work with you and in you. And lo and behold, it wasn't
long until you began to recognize, I've got a new man. I am a new
creature in Christ. And He did it. And He did it. Brothers and sisters, you and
I this morning and today and tonight and tomorrow and next
week and as long as we live in this life, we should be Encourage
to go right to our Father in Heaven. Just go right to Him. Speak to Him as you speak to
your Father that you're very intimate with. Even more so.
Be more honest and open with your Heavenly Father than you
could be with anybody. And just confess your faults.
Confess your sin. Tell Him how utterly weak you
are, that you're weakness yourself. And just ask Him, because He's
so rich, just to grant you to be strengthened with night. And
I tell you what, if we'll do that, we'll be amazed. We'll
be amazed about it all. May God help us to be encouraged
to do it. Let us pray.