All right, we're going to be going through Ephesians 3 again today. The title of my message is The Big Love of Christ. I'm going to start in verse 14. It 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, 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 ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. 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. Father God, Lord, I thank you for this time to come together, Lord, to hear your word, Lord, to worship you, Father, and just to praise you, God, for your wonderful love for us, God. And Lord, I pray that you would just Open our ears tonight to your word, God. I pray you would be with me as I preach, God, be with my lips. Keep me from error, Father, and I just pray that you would bless us tonight with a message from your word that you want us to hear, God. Lord, I thank you for the opportunity to preach tonight. I ask that you would be with those who are not here, Father, anybody who's sick. Lord, we pray for healing for them, God, and we pray for Brother Mike as he's on his extended stay in Chicago. Lord, keep him safe. In Jesus' name, amen. No, I'm just kidding. I'm fine. So Paul began this chapter declaring himself to be the prisoner of Jesus Christ for the Gentiles of the church. He had a calling from God to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, and for that end, he was imprisoned in Rome. I'll read that. I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to youward, how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore in few words, whereby when ye read ye may understand my knowledge and the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel, whereof I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power." He goes on to say that God is using him according to his purpose, and through him the mystery and wisdom of God and Jesus Christ are being made known to those that God has chosen in every place where he preached, and that his sufferings for them are not cause for them to mourn for Paul. Verse 13, he says, Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Paul's willing to suffer these things, if need be, for the sake of the gospel and for the benefit of the church that God is building. Paul doesn't say they should not pray for him. He doesn't enjoy suffering any more than you or I would. but he counts his tribulations to be to their glory. Then we get to today's text in chapter 14 and Paul, sorry, verse 14, and Paul begins the next passage with the same phrase, for this cause. He says, for this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By this cause, he might refer to the previous verse, his desire that they faint not. Or he could be returning to the thought that he started at the beginning of the chapter. This could be the continuation of that line of reasoning that he began and then went off on a little tangent. And this would also re-emphasize his commitment to God and to the Gentile believers that for their sakes he has surrendered to God. He bows his knees. Bowing the knees is a sign of reverence and submission to an authority like a king. Genesis 41 verse 41 says, And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot, which he had. And they cried before him, bow the knee. And he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. The Bible tells us But there is coming a day when every knee will bow at the name of Jesus, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Paul is just ahead of the curve, but bowing the knees is also the posture of prayer. When we come before God in prayer, we should be showing reverence and submission to God as well. And Paul is bowing the knees unto the Father in prayer that God would give the Ephesians knowledge. 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 ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. The inner man is your spirit. And Paul prays that God's spirit, the Holy Spirit, would strengthen their spirit with might. The spirit we know from years of studies on this is the seed of the intellect. It's your spirit that knows things, that understands and comprehends. It's the spirit that believes, has faith. And the spirit is a he, the inner man. Your soul, on the other hand, is the realm of your emotions and feelings and is pictured as female in Scripture. Psalm 34, verse 2 says, These things are closely joined together, the spirit and soul, and sometimes are just referred to collectively as the soul or spirit or the heart, which is the inside of a man, but they are distinct. He is again praying that God would grant them spiritual knowledge according to the riches of His glory, somewhat echoing what He said in the first chapter. He said that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe according to the working of His mighty power. Paul had gone on to describe how we were given new life in Christ, and that as Christ was raised up and seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, we were also seated with Him. In chapter 2, verse 5, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. But now he is showing them that conversely, just as we are in Christ, Christ is in us. He prays that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith. That doesn't mean that they believe hard enough and Christ appears in their hearts. Faith is believing what already is true, even though it may not be apparent to the believer. Christ dwelling in their hearts is already true. As believers, they just need to have faith that Christ is dwelling in them, and this understanding will strengthen their spirits. Understanding that Christ is present in your heart, who in Matthew 28 said to His disciples, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. That Christ, the one with all power, lives inside your heart. You live in Him, and He lives in you. John 15, verse 20 says, I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, He taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, He is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples." Jesus said that if his disciples would abide in him, and had His words abiding in them, they would bear fruit, and that they could ask what they would, and it would be done for them. Paul wants the Ephesians to know this, that they abide in Christ, and Christ abides in them, so that they will bring forth much fruit and know the power of Christ in their lives. Verse 17, he said 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 ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." Paul prays that they, being rooted and grounded in love, might be able to comprehend. Because the love of Christ, he says, passeth knowledge. It has breadth and length and depth and height. and Mike, that's four dimensions, brother. God's love has never been measured. It's beyond our comprehension, but Paul prays that they could get a better understanding of Christ's love. How big is God's love? How big is God? 1 John 4 says, He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. However big God is, I think that's how big his love is. Psalms 139 says, Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. The breadth of the earth and the height of the heavens and the depth of the sea could only exist within God, and we can't even begin to understand the vastness of God's creation. The heavens are filled with innumerable stars. Astronomers say the closest star to us is Proxima Centauri, which is still over 40 trillion kilometers away, or 4.25 light years. The estimated number of stars in the Milky Way is between 100 and 400 billion. and the galaxy is estimated to be approximately 87,000 light-years across. The nearest major galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, which you can see as a faint smudge in the sky with your naked eye, is supposedly about 2.5 million light-years away. Paul wanted the Ephesians to know the love of Christ, which he said passeth all knowledge, that they might be filled with all the fullness of God. Colossians 2 says, "...for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." If Jesus contains the fullness of the Godhead bodily, then the love of Christ must be immeasurable. And if Christ dwells in you, then you can't truly know the fullness of God that you are filled with. Nor can you comprehend the power of Jesus Christ who said, "...all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." Verse 20 says, Glory in the church throughout all ages. implies that the church is going to be there with Jesus Christ throughout all ages. God is able to keep us and preserve our being for all eternity by His power so that we can give Him glory. Paul makes it clear that God has all power to do anything. Above all that we ask or think, God can do it, and He wants us to know this as He wanted the Ephesians to know this. Matthew 7, verse 7 says, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth. And to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" Jesus says that God, as a good Father, wants to give good things to His children. We understand that God is not a genie that grants wishes, but He said to ask if you want something. How often do we want something from God, but we don't ask Him for it? But it is a true fact that many times as believers, we pray for things that we don't receive. At least it appears that way to me. I can't say that everything I pray for I receive just as I asked. So I don't think that the Lord was making a promise that all your desires would be granted unconditionally if you asked. In the context even, if we read the next verse, I think we find a condition. Matthew 7, verse 12, he says, Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you Do ye even so to them? For this is the law in the prophets. Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. And many there be which go in thereat, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Because God gives good things to those that ask of him, he says, therefore do good to others as you would have them do to you. If we are not obeying God's great commandments, which Jesus summed up as, love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and love thy neighbor as thyself, then possibly God might withhold from us some things that we ask for. If it seems that God is not answering our prayers, we may need to examine ourselves and make sure that there is not something that God is asking of us that we are not giving Him. There are other conditions that we can see in Scripture that might cause our prayers to go seemingly unanswered. James talks about asking for things amiss. Amiss means wrong, faulty, out of order. James 4 says, from whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust and ye have not. Ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. Ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is the enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy, but he giveth more grace? Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up." This seems to go right along with what Jesus said. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Wars and fighting is among you. He's talking to believers who should be getting along with one another. Asking for things amiss could be that they are praying for things selfishly, not taking the needs of others to the Lord, but just the things that they want. He says they are proud, and God resisted the proud, but gives grace to the humble. If our prayers aren't being answered, is it because of our pride? Are we asking for things amiss, or are we asking for the things that God wants us to ask Him for, and for the reasons that God wants us to ask Him? Are we humbling ourselves before God? Do we have clean hands and pure hearts? James 5 says, Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. And if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another. and pray one for another that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." It's been pointed out to me many times in the past that fervent means hot or boiling, glowing. It's earnest and excited. Maybe my prayer isn't fervent enough if God is not answering me. Am I really desiring God to answer my prayers if I sound like I'm reading a grocery list? My prayers may be cold. and God may want me to warm them up. I see people in the scriptures that cry out to God when they truly desire something of Him. I don't think that that is the only way to pray, but maybe sometimes it is the right way to pray. Hannah was speaking to the Lord silently. It said her lips moved, but she spake in her heart. It says, and she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. I think Hannah was praying fervently, quietly, but fervently. and the Lord heard her prayers. But there's another reason the Bible says your prayers might not be answered. 1 Peter 3 says, Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives, while they behold your chaste conversation, coupled with fear, whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, and that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner, in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands. Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement, likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered." Husbands and wives need to be getting this right. Wives that aren't submitted to their husbands like God requires, should God reward that with answered prayers? Peter points out that Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. She wasn't just calling him Lord to be outwardly compliant. Because in Genesis 18 it says this, it says, Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord, being old also? Sarah was calling Abraham Lord to herself in her thoughts. She was truly submitted to her husband, not just giving lip service. And Paul warns husbands to dwell with their wives according to knowledge, recognizing their weakness, knowing that they are heirs together, They are to be given honor. Honor your wives, brothers, because not doing so, God says, can cause your prayers to be hindered. Your prayers and your wives' prayers should be in agreement. You are one flesh. I confess that I don't spend enough time in prayer with my wife, and that's going to change. She's not here, so she may not like it, but she's going to submit to it, because we have prayers that we need answered. And I know that God has the power to answer them. 1 John 5 verse 14 says, And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know that He heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. Here's another condition, that the things that we ask be according to His will. Certainly, this implies that God is not going to answer prayers that are contrary to His revealed will in Scripture. that would be asking amiss to pray for things that would clearly displease God. You wouldn't pray for your brother's wife to fall in love with you. That would get you in trouble real quick. But perhaps there are things that we might ask that are just not in God's will. Paul was under arrest and not free to leave Rome. He could pray that God would allow him to leave, but if it was God's will for him to be there, then that's where he would be. Tradition says that Paul did end up being released, continued his ministry until he was later taken again and finally put to death. But Paul accepted, even rejoiced, that he would be required to suffer many things for Christ. 2 Corinthians says, 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. So sometimes God's will for us is to accept His will and rest in His grace. I believe ultimately we already have many of the things that we ask because when we are resurrected, I don't believe we will ever have those infirmities again. My back that gives me trouble, I know God has the power to heal it. It's probably my own fault that it gives me so much trouble, but it's not more trouble than I can bear. And I don't think my back will ever hurt again when I'm with the Lord. for the ages to come, world without end, giving Jesus all the glory for it. I think God allows us to experience weakness and infirmity and reproaches and persecutions to keep us humble and to keep us reliant on him. God could make us all rich and then we wouldn't have any more money problems. But God wants us to rely on his provision daily. He tells us to pray for our daily bread every day. That's his will. Proverbs 30 verse 8 says, Remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. We should expect God to honor His promises, to give us what we need when we need it. And we can hope that God will give us our desires when our desires line up with his desires. If we feel that we have needs that God is not meeting, we should examine ourselves and make sure we are not asking amiss. Make sure that we are doing the things that God expects of us, things that we know we should be doing as members of the household of God. And we should be content to wait for things in their due time and not be bitter against God for things that we don't have that we feel we should have. but be more fervent in our prayer life. Draw closer to Him and cleanse our hands and purify our hearts and allow ourselves to be afflicted, to mourn and weep. Because if we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, He will lift us up. His love is immeasurable and His power beyond comprehension. And we can expect good things from our heavenly Father. Father God, Lord, I thank you, God, for just the opportunity to speak tonight, God, to these folks, Lord, this church, Lord, that you've blessed us with, God. I thank you for my family here, Lord, and my friends, God. And Lord, I just pray that you would give us ears, Lord, to hear your word, Lord. Help us to understand the things that you've got for us in your word, God, and help us to dwell on them every day, Lord. Help us to be in your word every day, God, and to be in prayer with you, Father. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to pray fervently, God, help us to pray for the things that you want us to pray for, Lord. And God, I thank you for everybody's patience with me, Lord, and just pray you would bless the rest of our evening, God, bless our fellowship. It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen.