Brothers and sisters in the Lord, our passage this morning in the midst of Ephesians takes place at a transitional point in Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus. If you were to go home this afternoon and read through the entire letter in one sitting, one of the things you might notice is that there's a significant change that happens beginning in Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians 1-3 sounds very different than Ephesians 4-6. There's this clear line that divides the two. And the reason it sounds so different is that the first three chapters are filled with statements of fact. Indicatives, we might say, indicative verbs which state facts, words of being. So in the first chapters we read that you were chosen by God. That you were raised from death to life. That you who were on the outside have been brought to the inside. That Gentiles are now included. Statements of fact. In chapters 4 through 6, there's a switch to imperatives. Imperatives are statements of what you are to do. What you are to do in light of all that's come before. So Paul will go on to tell them to walk in unity, to live within the household, within the families as those redeemed by Christ, to put on the armor of God, to do things, to do things in response. So there's this change between chapter three and chapter four, but it's not like they're on their own. from chapter four on. It's not like Paul has told them, here's what you have, now here's what you must go out and do. Go out, you're on your own. No, as he makes this transition, he first speaks of his prayers for the church in Ephesus. Before he says, this is what you are to do as people of God, he says, this is what I'm praying for you, that God will continue to strengthen you, that by the grace of God, he will equip you to do these things that I'm calling you to do. Because if we ever come to a point where we think that God's grace gets us here and then we're on our own for the rest, we're in for a hard and difficult life. But Paul prays that the Lord would give them strength for the things that he's going to ask them to do. So this prayer, this prayer that we're looking at, this report of Paul's prayer, it ties the two halves of the book together. The first half filled with all these deep intellectual truths, many weighty topics, but Paul's prayer is that these don't just stay in the intellectual realm, but that they would be taken into the hearts of his listeners, that they more and more be molded, shaped into the image of Christ, that they would live for him. They're going to face challenges. Paul lays out the work of a lifetime in chapters four through six. But Paul's prayer is that they would be equipped, strengthened by the Holy Spirit for this work. So this morning, we're looking at Paul's prayer for spiritual power. Paul's prayer for spiritual power. And as we go through this, I wanna look at three things. First of all, the two petitions that Paul makes. two petitions, and then praise. At the beginning of chapter three, we started reading chapter three, verse one, Paul begins, for this reason, I, Paul, and then he goes off on a bit of a tangent. He speaks of the mystery that Jews, Gentiles alike, are included in the kingdom, included together in the church. But then in verse 14, as we start with our text, he returns. He returns to his prayer. for the Ephesian church. For this reason, I kneel before the father from whom the whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name for the reason of the wonders that he's spoken of. The wonders, the glorious truths of the first three chapters. He bows in humility before God, the Father. He comes before the creator of the universe as Father. The one who has authority over every tribe, people, and nation comes before him as Father, praying even as Jesus taught his disciples to pray, even as we are called to pray to God, our Father. Father and creator of the universe, but even more, the Father of believers because of what Christ has done. before God the Father, Paul brings this prayer and his first petition is for spiritual power. And the first petition that he makes, the first request that he makes as he's on his knees before the Father is for spiritual power. In verses 16 through the first half of verse 17. I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. He's praying for the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of his readers, in the lives of the church in Ephesus. that more and more, by the work of the Spirit, they would resemble Christ their Lord, that they would more and more live for Christ. If we look back to the Gospels in John 16, Jesus, as He prepares to face His crucifixion, He tells His disciples that it's better for them that He goes to the Father, because if He goes, He will send a helper. He'll send the Holy Spirit. And in Acts 2, He does indeed do just that. And the church today is equally built. upheld by the work of the Holy Spirit. And it's this work that Paul prays for. That more and more the church would be strengthened. That even as they face persecution, even as they face trials, even as their bodies break down, that their inner selves, their inner being would be renewed more and more into the image and likeness of Christ. As Paul tells the Corinthian church in another letter, so we do not lose heart. Though our inner self is wasting away, though our outer self is wasting away rather, our inner self is being renewed day by day. So Paul prays that the spirit would continue to renew their inner self, their hearts, the core of their being that from the inside out he would change them, mold them, shape them in the image of Christ. for the end that Christ would dwell in their hearts by faith as we read in verse 17. And the more and more I look at verse 17, the more intimidated I am by this verse, the more challenging this verse is, that Paul prays for the spirit to work in them so that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith. Christ dwelling in your heart through faith. It's a familiar expression to most of us. It's words that we've heard so many times. Christ dwelling in your heart through faith. Maybe you've heard someone describe coming to faith in Christ as Christ coming into their hearts. Believing in Christ involves Christ dwelling in my heart. We sing about it even. Take my heart, it is thine own. It shall be thy royal throne. But would you be surprised that this is the only place in the New Testament where we explicitly read of Christ dwelling in your hearts. It's implied in so many places, but this is the one that it's explicit. And it seems a little bit strange, perhaps, that Paul is praying for this now. Because remember, he's writing this letter to a church. He's writing this letter to those who already believe in Christ. And so often when we think of the words, Christ dwelling in your hearts, we think of the initial Our initial coming to Christ in faith, that initial experience of Christ coming into our hearts as we become believers in Him. And so we wonder, why is Paul praying for this on behalf of those who already have come to Christ? Those whom Christ has already entered their hearts. Well, Paul prays for it here because he's not concerned so much for their justification, that coming to faith in Christ, but he's concerned for their sanctification here. And he asks that Christ would dwell within their hearts. There are two main words in Greek that could be translated dwell. One refers to a temporary dwelling, like Abraham dwelling in a tent in a land not his own, a visitor in a temporary home. And if you're just dwelling in a place, but temporarily, it affects how you live there. My wife and I know that we're moving soon, so we've been renting. And as we rent it, it's a house that's not ours. So if there's issues with the house, if we don't like the carpet, if we don't like the cabinets or one of the rooms, we just, we live with it. We don't change it because it's just temporary. It's not a long-term home. It's a temporary dwelling place for us. You dwell, but you don't really put an imprint, your personality, your unique flavor on this home because it's a temporary rental that will soon be leaving. That's one word for dwell, this temporary, fleeting sort of dwelling. And sometimes we live as though that's what Paul means when he says that Christ would dwell in your hearts, that Christ would live in my heart, but as a visitor, as a guest, that I would have Christ and I'd have my life and I could have it all. That wouldn't be very uncomfortable at all. But there's a much stronger verb for dwell in Greek, and it's the strong verb, the one that has a lot more meaning that Paul uses. To dwell, but to dwell with permanence. To dwell as the true owner, the rightful owner. If you dwell in a home that is yours, a home that you plan on spending the next 30, 40 years in, you make a lot of changes. You renovate that home, you decorate that home, and eventually that home actually begins to resemble you, because you're the one who's designed these changes, you're the ones who's decorated this certain way, made these changes. and it's yours. You dwell there and you put your mark on that home because it's yours. It's your home and it reflects your ownership. And it's this strong verb, to dwell, but to dwell as owner, the one who shapes, molds, directs this house. That's the verb that Paul uses here. And suddenly this is an intimidating thought. Christ dwelling in my heart, the king of glory, Lord and Redeemer, creator of the universe dwelling in your heart. Your heart that is still stained with sin in so many ways. Your heart that desires your own way. Your heart that has rooms that you wouldn't want other people to see. Christ dwells in that heart. And therefore, He shapes it. He's going to shape it into His image, His likeness. And suddenly, it's no wonder that we need to pray for the strength of the Spirit. Because when Christ comes, when Christ dwells in your heart, there's major renovations that need to take place. as He renews you more and more into His image and His likeness. Changes that can only occur by the power of the Holy Spirit. Renovations which show that your life, that your heart is not your own anymore. You don't have your old heart, your old life with Christ dwelling as a guest here, but all of it belongs to Christ. So where is your heart going to continue to need renovations to reflect the ownership of Christ? In the final three chapters of Ephesians, Paul goes into some of these changes that need to occur, but it's only possible by the strength of the Spirit. It's going to be uncomfortable. It's going to be difficult at times, but it's necessary as the Spirit works in your heart, changing you to resemble your Savior more and more. So this is Paul's first petition, that the power of the Spirit would more and more change them into the image and likeness of Christ. And in Paul's second petition, so secondly we look at his second petition, which runs from verse 17 through verse 19, and his second petition is for spiritual understanding, that they would know what has already been done, that you would know what has already been done on your behalf, He says here, and I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. He prays that as you're changed, as you're molded into the image of Christ, that you would do this knowing what has been done, that you would have an understanding of the love of Christ, the love of Christ which now controls you as his people, as his redeemed people. The second petition puts the first one in perspective a little bit. They're going to be asked to do difficult things. They're gonna be asked to do a lot of things that would have been unthinkable in their former lives, but not in order to earn the love of God. Paul doesn't command you to do these things so that God will love you, so that God will accept you, but he calls believers to do these things because God loves you. Paul prays their foundation would be love. Not the love they have for God, but the love that has already been shown to them, to us, in Christ. That they would be rooted like a tree, a strong tree with deep roots. like a building with strong foundations, that their foundations, their roots would be in the love of God, the love shown in Christ, that together with all the saints, they would see the breadth, the length, the height and depth of His love and realize that it's beyond comprehension, that it surpasses knowledge, that it would move from their heads down to their hearts, applied by the Spirit. And we like to measure things. We like to quantify things. How big is this? How heavy is this? But when we seek to measure the love of God, we realize our categories of measuring things fall so far short. How much has God loved? He loved enough to send his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The measure of God's love is shown on the cross. And it wasn't shown because we were that lovable. Most days, you and I aren't that lovable. Not only were we not lovable, but we were in rebellion, dead in our trespasses and sins, separated from God and rebellion from God, enslaved by our own sinful desires. And yet God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5, 8. Christ suffered the wrath that we deserved on behalf of his bride, the church. And it's a love that one commentator describes as broad enough to encompass Jew and Gentile alike. Those who in Ephesus were the opposite ends of the spectrum, the love of God was broad enough to include both. Long enough to last for eternity. Not just 10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years, but for eternity. Deep enough to reach the most degraded sinner, snatching him from the gates of hell, and high enough to exalt him to heaven. The love of Christ. It was this love of Christ beyond all measurement and understanding that took him to the cross to die in our place. As 1 John 4 says, this is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. And it is this love that Paul prays would fill his readers. That you would be filled with the fullness, filled to the measure of all the fullness of God, he says. That they would be filled up as a glass of water is filled up to the brim. And that being filled with the fullness of God, there would be less and less room for love of sin, for love of self, for love of their own desires, and more and more The love of Christ would fill them, compel them to live for Him. That this love that fills them would compel them to live for Christ. As Paul tells the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5, for Christ's love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died. And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. And the love of God is what motivates change. Because God has offered his love without measure, grace beyond price, he then calls you to give yourself in service to Him, to be rooted in His love, filled with His love, overflowing with His love. And the more we're filled with this love, the love of God, the less room there is in our hearts for the love of sin and self, the more we're going to be able to die to self and live for Christ. So that was Paul's second petition He has these two petitions that they'd be strengthened by the Spirit's power, that they would begin to grasp the depths of God's love, but his prayer report doesn't end there. His prayer report ends in praise. final doxology of praise. So thirdly, we see praise offered to the one who hears prayer. Paul ends his letters with doxologies. That's fairly standard in his letters. But once in a while, as he contemplates the riches of God's love, the glories of what Christ has done, He offers doxologies right in the middle of his letter, and that's what he does here in Ephesians chapter 3. After he's told them what they have in Christ, after he's told them what he prays for them in Christ, he then offers praise to the one who hears prayer. Praise because even though he asks for much, He has confidence that God is able to answer and that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us. We know God can do far more than we could ask or imagine because he's already done it, hasn't he? Think of where we were, who of us would have imagined, contemplated, even in our wildest dreams, what God would do for a people in rebellion against him, for a people who had rejected his rule for their lives. He sent his own son to die to redeem his people, showing his mercy and offering grace to sinners and showing justice in requiring the death of a sinless, perfect savior, a salvation we never, ever would have imagined. We would still be hiding from God's presence like Adam and Eve, hiding in the garden, hiding from the presence of God if God had not come. If God had not come looking for us, to find us. It's a glorious story, and the glory belongs to God. You and I, by nature, we tend to be glory thieves, don't we? We want it to be to our glory, to have people look up to us, to see the changes that the Spirit is working in us, for example, and to feel a little bit good about that. to feel that God loved me so much, I must be pretty good. But Paul redirects the glory to its rightful owner, redirects the glory to where it belongs. In verse 21, he finishes this prayer report by saying, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations. Glory to God. Not for personal gain or glory for Paul. The Ephesians are for us, but for the glory of God. What He has done in the church is for His glory, His praise, showing His grace, love, and mercy, and taking those who were His enemies and adopting them as sons and daughters because of Christ Jesus. What He's done in Christ brings glory eternally. And eternally of glory because Christ has triumphed over sin, death, and the devil. And eternally of glory that Christ has redeemed his bride, the church, in the greatest display of love that the world has ever seen or known. The glory belongs to him on earth and in heaven forever. Paul's prayer for the church, it's challenging. He asks for difficult things, that more and more the church, more and more us, would be shaped into the image of Christ, even when it's uncomfortable, even when it's difficult, but it's also comforting. It shows us how much we need, but it points us to the one who gives even more than this, points to the power of God, that we need, that we should be praying for, that the Spirit would strengthen us, making us more and more to resemble Christ who dwells within us. Requests that should shape our own prayers as we look to Christ, as we look for how we are to live, that we would be guided and strengthened by the Spirit, that God would increase our understanding of His love displayed on the cross, and that we would praise Him and glorify Him for what He has done. It draws our eyes to the love of Christ shown on the cross and away from ourselves. And in the end, as Paul concludes, the glory and praise belongs to God forever and ever. Amen.