Turn back to Ephesians chapter
three. Ephesians chapter three. I've titled the message this
evening, A Prayer of Paul. A Prayer of Paul. And here in our text, Paul prays
for the believers at Ephesus. Paul desired to see the church
at Ephesus grow, to grow in grace, to grow in the knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I believe this prayer could
be the prayer of any pastor, or for that matter, any member
of the local church. A prayer to grow in faith, a
prayer to grow in love, Love for one another and love for
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray he would be pleased
to make this our prayer, one for another. Look back again
at verse 14 of Ephesians 3. For this cause, I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul approaches Almighty
God in humility. He approaches Him in submission. He said, I bow my knee unto God,
to God the Father. Verse 15, of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named. God gave His church to His Son. He did so before the foundation
of the world. And it's Almighty God to whom
every knee, not just Paul here, but every knee is going to bow. 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, strengthened, strengthened
by not our strength, strengthened by the might of his power, strengthened
by his spirit. We can do nothing without him,
nothing. We can't pray without him. We
cannot believe without him. We can't understand without him. In John 15 verse five, we read
this. He said, I am the vine and ye
are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, you
can do Nothing. I need to be strengthened by
His might. Simply said, I need Him. I must have Him. A confession
of that fact. I must have Him. David wrote in the book of Psalms,
in Psalm 18.2, he said, the Lord is my rock and my deliverer. My fortress. He said, he's my
God. And then he said this, he's my
strength. He is my strength. Listen, I
need his love. His love passeth all knowledge. I need his mercy. His mercy,
it endureth forever. I need his power. It's by his
power which we are kept. We're kept by the power of God. I need his faithfulness. Jeremiah
wrote this. He said, great is thy faithfulness. On bended knee. Paul said, I
bow the knee. I come before you. I confess
this. I am nothing. He's all and I'm
nothing. If you look back at verse 8 of
Ephesians 3, find it there, verse 8, Paul says this, he said, I
am the least. I'm the least of all the saints. I don't believe for a minute
that was false humility on Paul's part. He truly believed that.
He said, I am the least of all saints. I need to know that. I need to be reminded of that,
of myself. I must know this. I'm the least. I'm nothing. And I need to know
this, that he is all. Christ is all. Well, let's read on. Ephesians
3, verse 17, Paul's prayer. He said that Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded
in love, that Christ may dwell in you. To dwell in your hearts,
the indwelling of Christ in the heart of the believer. This is
spiritual life. This is the key to union with
God the Father. The fountainhead of all blessings,
the hope of eternal life. What is it? Christ in you. Paul wrote to the Galatians,
he said, my little children, of whom I travail in birth again,
until Christ be formed in you. Christ dwells in the... Isn't
that just... We can't wrap our head around
that. We can't even enter into it. Christ dwells in the hearts
of His people. Turn with me to Colossians 1. Turn over just a few books there
to Colossians 1. Look at verse 27. To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles.
What is it? Christ in you. The hope of glory. His mercy, his grace, his goodness,
his righteousness, Christ dwells in his people. Listen to, listen
to just, I tried to just break this down to a few verses, but
listen to this, listen to this hymn. Once far from God and dead
in sin, no light my heart could see. But in God's word, the light
I found. Now Christ liveth in me. As rays of light from yonder
sun, the flowers of earth set free. So life and light and love
come forth from Christ living in me. As lives the flower within
the seed, as in the cone the tree, So praise the God of truth
and grace. His spirit dwelleth in me. With longing all my heart is
filled, that like him I may be. And on the wondrous thought I
dwell, Christ liveth in me. Oh, oh what a salvation is this. Christ liveth in me. Paul's prayer for the church
at Ephesus, that Christ might dwell in them, that Christ might
dwell in you, that they might be rooted and
grounded deep in a love for him, a love for Christ. Isn't that
our security? His love for us and our love
for Him. If the believer has Christ, what else matters? If we have
Christ, we have everything. Back to our text again, here
in Ephesians 3. Look at verse 18. He says, that you may be able to comprehend
with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth
and height. To know the love of Christ which
passeth knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness
of God. Paul's prayer. Not a prayer for
natural things, not a prayer for temporary things, but a prayer
for eternal things. Love, that's what he's talking
about here, love. And true love, true love endures forever. It never fails. Over in the book of Romans, beginning
with verse 38, we read this, I am persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God. And we
see where that's found, isn't it? That is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Oh, the breadth and the length
and the depth and the height of His love. To comprehend that,
to get a glimpse of it, to know it, I wanna, just for a few minutes
here this evening, I want us to look at these four things. The one, the breadth of His love. The great extent of His love. What is the extent of His love?
Well, we read this, that God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son. that whosoever believeth in him
should never perish, but have everlasting life. Turn with me
to 1 John. 1 John chapter four. Look at verse 10. 1 John four,
verse 10. Herein is love. Not that we love
God, but that he loved us. And he sent his son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Herein is love. True love. The love of God. Free love. A love that cannot be compared
to anything else. A love that cannot be questioned.
A love that cannot be doubted. Not that we love God, but that
he loved us. The love of God can't, listen,
not as a result of our love for Him. We were found quite the opposite,
weren't we? We didn't love Him. Scripture
says this, you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works. It says this, when we were yet
sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. How is it that we love him? That's
revealed in scripture as well, isn't it? We love him because
he first loved us. It has nothing to do, nothing
to do with my love for him. Isn't that all the more reason
to believe it'll never be removed. We just read that a minute ago.
Nothing, nothing shall separate us from the love of God. Not even myself. Nothing shall
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. He loved us. He loved his people. God himself
loved us and sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins. My sin must be put away. It has
to be put away. It has to be atoned for. And Christ was made a propitiation. He was made a sin offering for
them. All that the justice of God might
be satisfied. We read this, mercy and truth
are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. The love of God. The love of
God for his people is from everlasting. It's unchangeable. It never alters. It never changes. You know men
love each other one day, and they hate each other the next. But the breath of God's love,
it's eternal. It never changes. God so loved,
and that's evidenced by what he did. God so loved, he gave. Second, the next word there is
the length. The length of his love. Paul says, reveal that to me. Let me see that. Reveal that
to thy people. Make that my prayer to see the
length of his love. What is it? What is the length
of it? It's to all eternity. It's an
eternal love. Listen to these words from the
prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 31.3 says this, the
Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying, yea, I have loved
thee. with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. The length of his love, what
is it? It's an everlasting love. In John chapter 13, verse one,
before the feast of the Passover, when the Lord Jesus knew that
his hour was come, His time was come that he should depart out
of this world and return to his father. He said this, having
loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto
the end. Having loved his own, who's he
talking about there? His sheep, his own, those for
whom he died, his elect. Having loved his own, Having
loved them with an everlasting love, having loved them with
an unchangeable love, He loved them to the end. He loved them
continually. He loved them forever, even unto
death. Well, back to our text. Look
at verse 19 again. Granted that I might know this,
the breadth and the length. And then he says, third, the
depth of his love. Lord, teach me the depth of your
love. I was thinking about this earlier. the depth of it. How low? How low does it go? His love
extends to the lowest sinner. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. of whom I am chief." Like a firebrand
plucked out of the fire. We sing that song, he reached
down his hand to me. Where did he find me? Lost and
undone without God's precious son. But he reached down, did
he reach down his hand for me? I ask you this, does he love
a man when that man makes a decision to follow him? When he takes
a first step? When he gets his life straightened
out and to follow Jesus? Romans 5, 8 said, God commendeth
his love toward us in that while we were yet, what? Sinners. Christ died for us. Back there in the Old Testament,
for that firstborn to live, that lamb had to be slain, didn't
it? That blood had to be shed. And to pardon me, to put away
my sin, It was necessary that someone else bear the suffering,
which I deserved. One to stand in my place, a substitute. Don't we love that word? How
could you not love the word substitution? That God might be just and justify
the ungodly. What's the depths of his love? God became a man. Almighty God
took on human flesh. To be seated in glory and to
come to this earth, to be mocked and ridiculed, to
die on the cross, Oh, the depth, the depth of his
love. When we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly, not for the righteous. That's
not what it says, does it? Not for religious men, not for
deserving men. but for those who are ungodly. Ungodly in nature, ungodly in
practice. He did it. He did it when we
were without strength to obey him, to keep his law without
ability to help ourselves. When we were in bondage to the
law and to sin. No desire. no ability to change
our condition, no desire to change our condition. In due time, the
time appointed by the Father, could there be any greater proof
of His love? To give one's life for the object
of that love? Greater love. hath no man than this, that he
lay down his life for his friends. Can we say, as David of old,
he brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of
the deep miry clay, And he set my feet upon a rock, and he established
my goings. The breadth, the length, the
depth, and then last, we read the height, the height of his
love. And in the height of His love,
He brings His people to an exalted state in glory. His love, what's
the height of it? To the throne of grace. You know, I remember when the
boys were little, I can remember a bedtime story that we would
read to them. I feel like we read this every
night. But at the end of the story is this line, I love you right up to the moon
and back. You just think that's pretty
high, isn't it? To the moon. Listen, the height of God's love
for his children, for his sheep, exceeds anything known to man. Turn with me to Ephesians 2.
Turn back over just a page. Ephesians 2, verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, And he hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved. And he hath raised us up and
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. In Ephesians 1 we read of the
exceeding greatness of his power. to us for it who believe according
to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ
when he raised him from the dead and he set him at his own right
hand in heavenly places. What's the height of it? Far
above all principality and power and might and dominion in every
name that is named. Listen, not only in this world,
but also in that which is to come. And he hath put all things
under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to
the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth
all in all. I wonder if, you reckon Mephibosheth
Caught a glimpse of that. There he was down there in Lodabar. And the king sent and he fetched
him. He's an enemy of the king. The
king sent and fetched him and he brought him back. And he seated him. He seated
him at the king's table as a son What about the prodigal son?
He went from eating with those hogs in a strange land to eating
the fatted calf in his father's house. I believe David knew something
of it because he wrote this in Psalm 23. Listen to this. Let me just read it to you. Thou
preparest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou
anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. Oh, the height of his love. It reaches to the heavens. It exceeds all knowledge. He
was made surety for his people. He took them for his own. He
assumed our nature. He died in our room and in our
stead. He paid the sin debt in full. He atoned. made atonement for
our sins. He gave us, he gives us an everlasting
righteousness. And scripture says as he goes
to prepare a place for us, that where he is, where is he? He's seated at the
right hand of God. That where he is, we may be also. And he sits there right now and
he ever lives to make intercession for his people. Well, quickly,
look with me back at verse 20 and 21, Ephesians 3. Unto him, this is Paul's prayer. Unto him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the
power that worketh in us. What is that power? It's Christ.
Christ in you. Unto him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. A call to praise him. to praise Him for His sovereignty,
for His great power, for His great ability. He does what He
will, when He will, with whom He will. His greatness. And knowing the
greatness of my sin, how is it, how is it that we could dare
approach unto God? In our minds, that's hard to
imagine, isn't it? But listen to this. He's able
to do exceeding, abundantly, above all that we ask or think. The more I read these prayers,
the more I realize this. I don't know how to pray. But listen, I know this, the
Spirit helpeth our infirmity, for we know not how to pray as
we ought. He's not limited by anything.
He's not even the weakness of my faith. As high as the heavens are above
the earth, so are His thoughts above our thoughts. in His ways
above our ways. I ask you, who gets the glory
in that? Unto Him. Unto Him be the glory
in the church throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. All right. Let's have a
closing hymn.