in your Bibles, please, to 1 Peter chapter one. We'll begin our reading in verse 13. 1 Peter 1, 13, hear now the inerrant, infallible, and inspired word of God. Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God. May God add his blessing to the reading and hearing of his most holy word. The quotation that I have for you this morning is from one of my favorite commentaries on the book of Ephesians by the Reverend Paul Bain. in your hearts, that is, in your minds, wills, and affections, as chief commander, king, and ruler." Looks like I missed part of the quotation. It didn't come all the way through. God dwells in your hearts, that is, in your minds, wills, and affections as chief commander, king, and ruler. He dwells in our souls as our souls in our bodies by his lively virtue, efficacy, and power, quickening, comforting, and strengthening us, possessing our souls as his house and dwelling, excluding and shutting out all other inmates, "'that his righteousness, merits, mediation, death, "'and sufferings may feed, fill, and satisfy "'all our desires, wills, and affections "'as our only treasure.'" Wow. So here we are talking about calling upon the Father, right, out of Hebrews, sorry, 1 Peter 1, 17. Calling upon the Father. Last week, we looked at calling upon God as Father in its privileges, and Lord willing, with Peter, we will follow in its responsibilities later. Right, we have rights and responsibilities with regard to calling upon God, the true God, as our own Father. Peter is laying out in this passage mostly responsibilities of that. we have taken just a little bit of an avenue talking about the privileges, rights, and blessings of calling upon God as Father. So last week, we said that the spirit of adoption is also the spirit of intercession out of Romans chapter eight. That spirit of adoption by which we call upon God as Abba, Father, is also the spirit that helps our infirmities that we can come to him as father, interceding for us in prayer. We saw that Christ is that natural son and we are co-heirs with the natural son being the adopted sons and daughters of Christ. We had a warrant from God himself pertaining to his children and their being heard by him and that because he always hears Christ. And then the fifth thing that we looked at last week was the difference between our asking and Christ's asking and how the Father hears and answers. Because Christ is God, man, the natural son of God, everything he asks for is always heard by the Father and always given to him because he cannot and does not ask amiss. We can, however. And yet, even when we ask amiss, God will take those sinful requests, those substandard requests, and he will receive them through the mediator of Christ, through the mediation of Christ, because he is our father, and he will do all for his glory and our good, even when we ask amiss. So that's what we saw last week and what comfort that is to think on such things that the Lord will do all of those and more because we call upon him as father. Well, last week also we said that we were going to dive into Ephesians chapter three verses 14 and following this week in order to follow the example of the apostle Paul. When we call upon God as Father, we would do ourselves well, wouldn't we, to look for scriptural examples of that. Well, that's what Paul does here in Ephesians 3.14. He says in verse 14, 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, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that he might be filled with all the fullness of God. And then he ends that with a great doxology. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, amen. You know the difference, you remember the difference between a benediction and a doxology, right? A benediction is a blessing for the people of God, and a doxology is a blessing for God when we praise him. So a benediction goes that way, and a doxology goes that way, right? Okay, so what I'd like to do over the next maybe two weeks, not in any great detail, remembering that we're in First Peter, but taking a look at these requests with, first of all, an overview that I wanna give you today, and then maybe one or two of the requests, and then perhaps finishing them out next week, Lord willing. The first thing that I want us to see here is that these requests that Paul enumerates here, They are, can I say it this way, they're close. They're close. They're intimate requests. When we call upon God as Father, we must remember the intimacy of the familial relationship, right? that God has styled himself as father to us. Not just father in the Acts chapter 17 sense where he's speaking to the Athenians and Paul says we're all his offspring. Not in that sense, but in the adoptive sense like we talked about last week in Romans chapter 8. in the adoptive sense, that God has drawn us near into his household, drawn us near into his familial relation, and that when we think of the Athenians versus Christians, we understand something very important about that distinction, that God has drawn us into a particular intimacy with him and called himself our father in that intimate and familial sense, not in the creator or civil magistrate or any other authoritative sense. No, this is that familial sense. And so notice Paul says, for this cause I bow my knees unto the Father. And then the things that he asks for are deep, searching things. That when we think of God as our Father, we must think of God as our Father in such a way so as not to put him off, but to draw him near to us in requests such as these. What Paul is calling for and what Paul is praying for here is familial intimacy with God himself. Well, that means we have to take a little bit of time to do that. There are some things that are said here. I mean, these are not automatic things. There's a little bit of time and effort that we put into our relationship with God as Father. Certainly we can think of in the human sense, speaking anthropomorphically here, God has put time and effort into becoming our Father, has he not? In that redemptive sense, in that familial sense. And so God has indeed put a lot of time in that. I mean, think of what God has done. We often pray for these things, don't we? We pray for God's protection. We pray for his provision. We pray for his instruction. We pray for his correction and direction and chastisement. We pray that God would preserve us, right? We pray for all of those fatherly things that God does for his children. Certainly, if we can think of it in this anthropomorphic sense, we would say that God has put a lot of work, a lot of effort into us as his children. I mean, Paul will say, if God spared not his own son, will he not also with Christ freely give us all things? So the first thing that I want us to understand about calling upon God as Father is that we call upon God as Father in that intimate sort of way, and it is something that we must put some time into. We see this, we've seen it already in our reading of the Gospels, haven't we, with regard to Christ. How much time did Christ put into his maintenance of his relationship while he was on Earth with his Father? I remember a sermon I heard a number of years ago preached by one of my mentors, Dr. Gary Crampton, called The Devotional Life of Christ. Maybe some of you remember that sermon. You heard it with me when we were back at the other church. And it was just a wonderful encouragement to think on the devotional life of Christ and how that is an example to us. Often we find in the gospels, Jesus retreating from others, spending time, sometimes even all night in prayer with his father, carrying on that conversation and that dialogue, kindling that intimacy, right? Remember that if we feel ourselves estranged from God, the prophet Isaiah tells us, God is not withdrawn from you, your sins have kept you from God. It is your sins that have separated between you and your God. Turn to me, he says. And so calling upon God as Father in that familial and intimate sense, it means also maintenance, it means also effort, it means also that we set time aside day by day by day to call upon the Lord. and then in so doing to recognize that he is our father. Now parents, you know this, don't you? Your children come to you, they're all out of sorts. They're either angry, they're upset, they're crying, they're in some state. What's the first thing you tell them? Okay, tell me what happened. Tell me what happened. Isn't it ironic then that knowing that as we do, that oft times we go to our Lord and we There's a little truth. Is that enough, Lord? You need another one? Okay. Well, I don't feel better yet, Lord. Maybe I'll give you another one. And we kind of, you know, give out the truth in dribs and drabs. This is not what it means to call upon God as Father. To call upon God as Father is to do exactly what we tell our children to do to us so that we can help them. Tell me everything. Tell me what happened. If there is injustice, we'll make it right. If the problem is yours, I'll help you understand it. Tell me. So calling upon God as Father is a high privilege that we truly do enjoy as believers in Christ, as those who are adopted into his family, who have that spirit of adoption, who is also the spirit of intercession. If you're having trouble expressing Keep at it. You have an intercessor that works for you, that will keep you close. And so the kinds of things that Paul talks about here, let's just rapid fire understand them so that we see what Paul is asking about here. So, that he would grant to you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man. He's talking about inner man stuff. Secondly, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Thirdly, that you might be rooted and grounded in love. Fourthly, that you may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, length, depth, and height of what? Of Christ, and then also to know his love. And finally, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. So notice the greatness of what it means to call upon God as Father. Paul asks the father of our Lord Jesus Christ for these things. Why? Because he's our father too. So let's go ahead and begin looking at some of these things. There is first of all in the apostle a requisite humility here in verse 14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a requisite humility in calling upon God as father. Have you ever felt like, I'm fairly certain that I have in the past, you ever felt like you say amen and then you meditate back on the prayer and you think like, well I was more like, I wasn't really coming to my father, I was more commanding a subordinate. Paul says, I bow my knees. Now, we know that the bowing of the knees is not necessary for prayer, but certainly humility is. Paul would have us to understand that the prayer that he's about to make is asked in all humility. We ought not to come away from prayer thinking that we have barked orders at God, and I know none of you do that. And yet we must examine ourselves to see whether or not our prayers have been commands toward God couched in other terms. We must think humbly. We must always include in our prayers, not my will but thine be done. Again, taking a page from the prayer life of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's a requisite humility with which we begin prayer. We must not enter into prayer with pride and self-righteousness and haughtiness. Our confession says it this way, prayer with thanksgiving being one special part of religious worship is by God required of all men and that it may be accepted, may be made, or it is to be made in the name of his son, by the help of his spirit, according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, perseverance, and a vocal in a known tongue. Notice humility and reverence there especially as a part of our understanding here when Paul says, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we don't come demanding of God, we come as suppliants. We don't come as many want to do today, commanding things in Jesus' name. No, we pray in Jesus name, not as a simple punctuation mark at the end of our prayers, but we come by the authority and command and will of Jesus Christ. We desire that our prayers should be according to his will and commands. This is part of humility and reverence. We do not press our own will and desire, but always give place for the sovereignty and will of God. Secondly, the Apostle writes, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory. We remember who it is to which we come. Our father is rich in glory, rich in resource, right? When we talk about an earthly king and we say that he is a glorious king, what do we mean by that? That means he's got resources. He's got power. He's got authority. He's got ability. He has riches standing behind him. If he's a glorious king, maybe we would say he has armaments standing behind him, right? That nobody's gonna mess with him. He's able to defend us and so on. In the earthly sense, of course, the glory truly of kings is to do righteousness, is it not? As we've been learning in the afternoons. But we come to our Father who is rich in glory. He has all resource, power, and ability to answer. Note also that the things we ask for are those intimate things, spiritual things, those things that require that kind of glory. Right, a temporal king can give you a million dollars, but can he give you communion with Christ in your soul? A temporal king can give you a house on a hill with a cattle and all all that pastoral scene that you have always desired, but can he give you communion with his spirit? No. No, but our father is rich in the richest of things, in the deepest of things. We've said this before. Remember back when we were reading Luke chapter one, we talked about Zacharias and his prayer after his tongue was loosed, when he said, when he wrote out on the tablet, his name is John. Remember that? And he said that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies may serve him all the days of our lives in holiness and righteousness, right? He said something like that, roughly paraphrased. Now he may not have understood exactly what he was talking about. He may have thought that this has to do with political success, those kinds of enemies. I'd rather think he did not, however, because he was full of the Holy Ghost. I'd rather think that he understood what our true enemy was. what our true foes, who our true foes are, and that he was speaking that Messiah would operate in the battle that he would prosecute in the mightiest of spheres, and there would be victorious in the spiritual things. We come to a God who is rich in glory, rich in glory, Paul says, because he can answer those most valuable needs that we have. And the most valuable needs that we have is that Christ would dwell in our hearts by faith, that we would be strengthened in the inner man by the spirit of God, that we would understand that we have knowledge and understanding and the embrace, the affectionate embrace of that knowledge of the depth and length and breadth and height to know the love of Christ. Those are the things that we need. If we are indeed co-heirs with Christ, all of those things only advance our understanding of our own estate. Those are the things truly that we need. One of the many tragedies of this dread virus and its effects is that we've been drawn away from spiritual things and have been focused more on the physical and the health and well-being of our neighbors and ourselves, which in itself is not bad. But we must not lose focus on the greater difficulties, the greater needs that we have. The greatest need that we have is not ivermectin. or hydrochloroquine, or intubation. The greatest need that we have is that Christ would dwell in our hearts by faith. And we can come to our father and ask for that. All right, so this prayer then made to our father speaks to those things that he supplies also, especially to his children. As we move through them and think about, as we think about them, We must think about having God as our father and that these blessings, these gifts come to those who are God's children through Christ Jesus. The things that we're asking about are so valuable that God doesn't give them out indiscriminately. He reserves them for his sons and daughters. And so this ought to up the ante for us. It ought to up that value for us. So note then verse 16, the first request 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 by his spirit in the inner man. You don't have to be conversant with popular culture, popular society, media, to know that we are a society truly given to the strength of the outer man. It's true everywhere you go. The strength of the outer man is advertised everywhere. And it's in different kinds of ways, more subtle ways. It's not just the bodybuilders. It's not just the athletes. It also has to do with health and beauty. And if there is something that our society is certainly enamored with, it's not just wealth, but it's health, beauty, strength, physical prowess, all of those kinds of things. And notice that this doesn't even come up on Paul's radar here. It's not what God gives to his children that we should be craving from God. Rather, he prays that we would be strengthened by his spirit in the inner man. In the inner man. Peter will speak to this a little bit later on in 1 Peter, won't he? Speaking to the ladies of the church, especially those who have unbelieving husbands. that they would spend their time not on the outward adornment, but on that hidden man of the heart, or that hidden person of the heart. I know ladies, our language has been scrubbed of such things. You don't say hidden man referring to ladies anymore. The hidden person of the heart, that's what Peter says to focus on, which is in the sight of God of great value, Peter will say. Paul is saying that here too by saying it this way, that he is your father and he gives the best things to you. And the best thing, one of the best things that he's going to give to his children is not physical prowess. It's not the ability to run fast, jump high. Instead, it's the ability to be strengthened in the inner man by his spirit. Oh, these are great things to think about. Turn with me to Psalm 6 for a moment, please. Of course, God's people have been asking about that for a long, long time, haven't they? Listen to what the psalmist writes. O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak. Heal me. Oh Lord, for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed, but thou, oh Lord, how long? Return, oh Lord, and deliver my soul. Oh, save me for thy mercy's sake. Even in the Hebrew penchant to consider that person to be that whole souled individual, still we understand what the psalmist is saying. Yes, I do have some weakness here in my body, but it has begun in the inner man. The weakness that I have in my outer man has begun in my inward man because I am liable to temptation. I'm liable to sin. Oh, Lord, don't rebuke me, please, in your anger. What kind of anger? Anger against sin. Anger against our behavior, against turning from God, against not turning toward him as we ought. And so, Psalm 103, listen to what the, Psalmist has to say there. Psalm 103, 13. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him, for he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass, as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth, for the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto children's children. We are like the dust that is of no account at all. Think of the dust of the balance. Think of that which is blown away by the wind. We are like the grass, temporary, soon gone. We are like a flower that fades with a show of beauty that is only short-lived. This first form of weakness is that we are therefore transitory creatures. But notice also that we are weak before our enemy. the enemy of our souls. 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 25 in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will. Naturally, we are weak, subject to this tempter, subject to his wiles and all of our weakness in the face of his prowess. In Hebrews chapter two, verse 14, For as much then as the children are of flesh and blood, he also likewise himself took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10 and following we don't need to turn there. You'll remember the passage How does it begin be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might? put on the whole armor of God that she may be able to stand in the evil day and Having done all to stand and then he will enumerate Those pieces of armor that the Christian is to take on to stand in ourselves We are weak in our resolve to do good. Even when we resolve to do good, we are weak. Turn with me to Hosea chapter six, one of our recent readings. Perhaps you'll remember. Hosea chapter 6 verse 4, O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew, it goeth away. Your goodness, right? The purpose that you have to do good. The preacher said something, you read something in Calvin's Institute, or something that you were reading, some commentary, or some Puritan divine, and oh, it was convicting. And so you have resolved to do good, right? It's like the guy that's standing in line at the counter to get food. It's a lunch counter, and there's all kinds of food set out before him, and he says salad, salad, salad, salad, and he gets to the front of the line, it's pizza. He had a resolve, but it didn't do him very good, didn't do him very well. So Ephraim has a resolve. Oh Judah, oh Ephraim, your goodness is as a morning cloud as the early dew, it goeth away. And how many of us truly, when we examine our own hearts, have not said to ourselves, oh, how weak I am. There is a popular prayer We hope we don't use it blasphemously or flippantly, but aren't we inclined to say from time to time, Lord, give me strength? What are we praying for when we pray such things? We're praying to be strengthened with might in the inner man by the spirit of God. And we should pray that prayer because truly we have need of strengthening. There are other weaknesses by which we are all hampered. Distraction in the things of God, distractions in worship, private worship, secret worship, public worship. Am I the only one that's begun praying and then three or four lines in found my mind wandering? Am I the only one that's had that trouble? If I am, fine, I confess, I am weak and I need the strength of God's spirit in my inner man. that I have a greater focus in prayer, a greater focus in hearing servants, a greater focus in my scripture reading, such that when I get five or six verses along and been distracted, I think, what did those verses just say? And then I go back and reread them. I'd like to not be able to do that. I'd like to have greater strength of focus, greater mental discipline. Those are the kinds of things that we're praying for when we pray, that the Lord would strengthen us in the inner man. Or when those same types of temptations come up, things we know we have fallen for in the past, that we don't fall for them again. And yet we fall again. And then we ask the Lord again for the same forgiveness, for the same sin. Those are the kinds of things we pray for when we pray, that the Lord would be kind to us and strengthen us in the inner man. It was for sorrow of soul that we hear in Luke 22, 45, that the disciples could not pray with Christ. They fell asleep instead. They were very sorry. It was a soul problem that they'd rather simply sleep instead of pray. We are weak in that way. We are weak and so we fear all kinds of things that we should not fear. Matthew chapter six and verse 30. What shall we eat? What shall we drink? How will we be clothed? I've heard that the supply lines are being interrupted. Okay. What are we told to do at such times? We're told to do the things that make for strengthening. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Actually what we fear, isn't it, if we're honest, we fear having some of the conveniences taken away because none of us really want to just do sustenance living. It's even those things that need to be taken away from us at times that we would be strong spiritually. It was for sorrow that the disciples could not watch. We said that, but note this prayer then, calling upon God as father for strength by his spirit in the inner man. And this is where we need strength the most. And so this is what is prayed for here and that which is promised. And there's one more passage that I'd like to bring up on this topic. Turn with me to second Corinthians chapter 12. The Apostle Paul knew how to pray for strength, and then he knew how to handle providences to be strengthened. This is what we want for ourselves. We want not only to pray for strength, but to know how to handle providences for strength as well. Notice 2 Corinthians 12, we'll begin reading in verse 7. And lest I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. This is one of those passages that is read, perhaps comprehended, But may I say it this way, and I don't mean to be insulting to anyone when I say this, not much believed, at least not to the depth of what Paul is speaking of here by Christians generally. Paul is actually saying that I am stronger spiritually when I am weaker temporally. We saw that earlier in Christ with regard to his 40 day fast. Paul says, I'm rejoicing when I'm afflicted. I'm rejoicing when I'm persecuted. I'm rejoicing when I am deprived. I know how to make use of providence in such a way that it strengthens my soul. Three times I asked the Lord to remove this thorn in the flesh, whatever it was. We know that it was a some kind of physical manifestation, a thorn in the flesh, but we also know that it was an Angelus to Satan. It was an angel of Satan that was sent to buffet him. A messenger, an angel, perhaps a devil. And that it was Satan's work upon Paul. That's what he says. I besought the Lord three times that it would depart from me and the Lord said effectively, no. No. You're going to abide with this affliction. And Paul says, here's what I learned from that. I learned to rejoice then in afflictions. I learned to rejoice in suffering. I learned to rejoice in deprivation, in persecution, in want. I learned to rejoice in those things. And in Philippians 4, he tells us he learns to be content in them. And why? because it is indeed to the strengthening of his soul. And so the other thing we learn about ourselves here when we pray that we would be strengthened with might in the inner man by the spirit of God is that we also are praying against that temporal tendency that we have to trust in the things that are around us. And the Lord takes them away. He takes them away in answer to the prayer to be strengthened in our souls. Now, again, we're all going to be different. There's no one size fits all, and thankfully we have a father that's omniscient, who knows every one of his children intimately. He knows the deprivation that you need. He knows the deprivation that I need. They may not be the same deprivation. But he knows also that we all need strengthening in our souls. And what a wonderful thing it is to be able to call upon him for that strengthening. This is one of those intimate and deep things for which we might call upon our father. Listen to Psalm 39. Begin our reading in verse, well, we'll just read the whole psalm. It's a psalm of David. I said I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence. I held my peace even from good and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me while I was musing the fire burn then spake I with my tongue. Stop right there. What's David describing? He's describing a scene of frustration. This wicked someone is before him and he's frustrated by it. It's got his goat. His heart is hot within him. The fire is burning, he says. But I didn't say anything. I kept silent while the wicked was before me. What's the tendency? What is our tendency? Let it go, right? Let it all out. You know, you're the great corrector of all mankind. while the wicked is before you. Just let it pour out. Tell them what they're doing wrong. Now watch what happens. Verse four. Then I spake with my tongue, I said, Lord, make me to know mine end and the measure of my days, what it is that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as an hand breath, and mine age is as nothing before thee. Verily, every man and his best state is altogether vanity, Salah. Surely every man walketh in a vain show. Surely they are disquieted in vain. He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee. Deliver me from all my transgressions. Make me not the reproach of the foolish. I was dumb. I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it. Remove thy stroke away from me. I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth, surely every man is vanity, sela. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry. Hold not thy peace at my tears, for I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my fathers were. O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more. David said, I'm going to put away that temporal strength, that ability to rise up and faithfully preach to the wicked that are before me. And instead, those guns were turned inward, were they not? Make me to know, my days, that they are like a hand breath. Help me to remember how frail I am. Not the wicked that's before me, but me. So, this first prayer, this first request then, Very, very important that we should be strengthened with might in the inner man. Request number two. Turn back with me to Ephesians three, verse 14. We'll only get this one and the second one done today. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Verse 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. The first thing that we always have to remind ourselves here is that when we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ, while we do offer to everyone the judgment of charity, that Christ is dwelling in everyone's hearts by faith, that we don't know such things absolutely, and so it is a competent prayer for the people of God to pray that Christ would dwell in their hearts by faith. Faith is a great gift to ask for regarding the church. Not only that she would believe, but also that she would be deepened and broadened in her faith toward Christ. So in this request, then, we pray for the unconverted in the visible church. And we pray this to our Father, who has, as we have heard, an infinite and inexhaustible resource, who is mighty to save and to increase in faith. To Paul then, it is entirely fitting that he would pray thusly for the Ephesian church. It is why also he will call upon the Corinthians to examine themselves whether they are in the faith. 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verses 1 through 5. So Paul prays for the Ephesian church and for the entire church The entire visible church that Christ would dwell in our hearts by faith, that Christ would take up his residence with us by faith. This is a very important prayer. We need to pray it for ourselves. We need to pray it for others. Again, we're not decisionalists here. We don't talk much about the threshold. We talk about what it means to press ahead. And we want to press ahead every day of our lives, not making a decision, but every decision for the Lord Jesus Christ, that he would dwell in our hearts by faith and that his word and ways would direct us in everything that we do all the time from now until he calls us home to be with himself. So it's not just for conversion that we're praying for here, but it's for sanctification and direction and knowledge and all of those things that come with faith. Sometimes in scripture, when we see the word faith used, it's not really faith that's being spoken of, but the fruits of faith instead. So sometimes when we're praying that Christ would dwell in our hearts by faith, it's truly that we're praying for the fruits of faith. Like James will say, show me your faith by your works. Don't say you have faith because talk is cheap. Show me your faith by your works. This is not to devolve into merit religion or saying we're saved by our works. It's to say that we're saved by grace alone through faith alone and that the faith that saves is not alone, but it's accompanied by good works. That good works are the fruits of a lively faith and a lively salvation and not the cause of it. That's what we're saying. And so sometimes, for instance, in Luke chapter 17, Jesus is talking to them about forgiveness. We won't take the time to turn there, but it's verses, let me see if I can find the reference here. The fruits of faith, yeah, one through five. What happens is Jesus comes to his disciples and he's talking to them about forgiveness, forgiving people. And he says to them, you know how many times you need to forgive somebody? It's 70 times 7 times. If they come to you, you know, 70 times 7 times in a day, you must forgive them. And the disciples then, recognizing what the ground of such forgiveness is, they say to Christ, Lord, increase our faith. They don't say increase our forgiveness. They say increase our faith. And the reason they ask for faith there is because truly what they're asking for is the fruits of faith, that greater forgiveness that they should have toward one another. Because sometimes in scripture, faith is put forth under the design of the fruit of faith, like in that scripture. And there are other scriptures as well that we could speak of. We could turn to James chapter 2. There are other passages as well, Matthew 9, Luke 5, James 2.18, Hebrews 11. Right? We're learning about faith in Hebrews 11 and yet faith in Hebrews 11 is always accompanied by some rational and all and an extraordinary act of following the Lord. Right? So when we pray that Christ would dwell in our hearts by faith. We're praying for ourselves and others in the church, number one, that all those who come under the purview of the means of grace would truly trust in Christ Jesus. That the church would not be you know, half hypocrites and half not, or two-thirds not and one-third, or whatever ratio you'd like to mention, that truly we are praying that our churches would be full of true, Bible-believing, Christ-trusting Christians. And not simply here because it's a nice place to raise your kids, I really like the people, the music is great, or whatever other reason that there might be. So that Christ would dwell in our hearts by faith, not only that, not only for the sake of conversion, but that all of the fruits of faith would be increased among us. all of the fruits of faith would be increased among us, that we are deepened and broadened in our faith to such an extent that our lives simply exude what the Bible teaches, that we learn to live by faith, right? Remember what Paul will say to the Ephesians elsewhere. He says, as you have received Jesus Christ, what is that? By faith. So walk ye in Him. How do you walk? By faith, not by sight. That's the contrast in the scripture, right? So we're asking then that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith. So we can come to our father and we can pray for ourselves and our brothers and sisters that God would be merciful and gracious to us. That not only would he open our hearts by his spirit to receive Christ and that Christ would dwell there by faith, but more than that, that he would flourish there. That he would be the fountain and foundation of our hearts by faith. That we would not have Christ as an adjunct, or as we said last week, a hobby, but that he would be the warp and woof of who we are. That we might, with the Apostle Paul elsewhere, say, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Or, I am crucified with Christ, yet, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. In the life that I now live, in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That that would be the normal Christian life. But that wouldn't be the description of the super saint. That that would be the description of the Christian. Because that's how the Bible lays it out. And we can come to our Father with that. We can come to our Father with every weakness or hole or breach in our faith. We can come to our father with every doubt that we have. We can come to our father with every consternation and difficulty that we have. We can come to our father with every weakness in our faith and ask him to fill it up. And he will. That's what he's in the business of doing. He's our father. But you must come, like we said earlier, asking. You must come and Tell me the whole thing, right? Tell me what happened. Tell him. If you're having trouble trusting him, tell him, as one of my former pastors told me, he's big enough, he can take it. And you telling him is part of the therapy to bring you into spiritual health and wholeness. And that word, health, the original Greek word is often used in the New Testament for spiritual health, higios. It's used for spiritual health as well. So these first two requests, and then also, remember, coming to God as Father, who has unlimited power and unlimited authority to do above, beyond all we can ask or think. Let's make sure that we understand that that's how Paul punctuates this prayer at the end of it. Then he says, you're coming to your Father. You're going to ask Him for deep and spiritual things and intimate things of the spiritual life. You're going to ask Him for strength in the inner man. You're going to ask Him that Christ would dwell in your hearts by faith. You're going to ask Him that you may have a certain kind of knowledge, that you would be rooted and grounded in love and all of these things. And you know what? Paul says, your Father is able to do exceeding above all that you could ask or think. That's what he's gonna do. That's the confidence that we have that's coming to him as father. That when we find ourselves weak, we can come for strength. When we find ourselves faithless, he can fill up our faith because he cannot and will not deny himself. He will rise up faithfully to strengthen you. Let's rise in prayer then. Our dear Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that Thou art that kind Father, that Thou art that Father that we can come to with these most intimate of problems and difficulties in the inner man. When all others think that we are indeed in our souls riding upon the high places of the earth, and Thou knowest that we are not, that we can come to Thee even with such things as are hid from others. and that Thou dost know, and that Thou dost in Christ love and receive Thy dear children, that when we lack strength, we can come to Thee, and when we lack faith, we can come to Thee, when we lack communion with our Lord Jesus Christ, that we can come to Thee, and when we have any kind of soul trouble, that we can find our answer in Thee. O Lord, we pray, Help us then to take our eyes off of the things of this world as the answers to our most difficult problems, and help us to turn to Thee. Help us to call upon Thee as Father, knowing that Thou wilt hear Thy dear children. Lord, strengthen us to be strong in these days, for these days are fraught with evil, Strengthen us to believe in Jesus Christ when so many are marginalizing him out of existence in their own minds. Lord, we pray that as thy people, we would be strong in these things, deep and rich in faith, that we would indeed have those fruits of faith at ready advance in this world. that we would have that ready profession of faith upon our lips, that we would be strong in the face of temporal difficulty, and even to be strengthened by it, that we may give testimony to thy fatherhood over us. And we pray all these things in Christ Jesus' name.