Knowing Unknowable Love

It's an understatement to say that self-help books have proliferated over the last several decades.

In fact, there are now books that are written solely as references for all the self-help books that are available out there.

One such book is entitled Self-Help, 1,400 Best Books on Personal Growth.

1,400, and that's whittled down.

That's the number that he arrived at after combing through all these books and deciding on the best ones.

If you search within Amazon's book category for theology, you get 205,778 results.

If you search for Christian theology, you get even less, 146,691.

If you search for self-help, you get a staggering 746,824 hits.

Now, the good news about that is a lot of people in our culture recognize that they need help.

The bad news about that is a lot of people don't know where to find help.

This is often true for Christians also.

When we are dealing with a sin in our life that we want to overcome,

when we're trying to break a bad habit or to heal a pain that's been in our lives and been crippling us,

when we want to correct an area of unbelief in our lives,

we often turn to our own strength and take things into our own hands.

But in order to fulfill God's true design and purpose for our lives,

we need more of the Almighty God and less of our feeble selves.

And in this passage, Paul teaches us that we need to pray to the Father

so that through the power of the Holy Spirit, we may be filled with the presence of Christ.

I'm going to follow that as my outline.

The first point will be prayer to the Father.

The second point will be power through the Spirit.

And the third point will be the presence of Christ.

Paul had begun chapter 3 with verse 1.

He says,

And then he digressed to explain his apostleship and his ministry on behalf of the Gentiles in verses 2 to 13.

And now here in verse 14 is where he resumes that original thought that he had in verse 1,

and he begins that intercessory prayer on behalf of the Ephesians,

and he begins with the same phrase.

For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

So for this reason, points us back to what Paul taught us in chapter 2, right?

So the basis for his prayer, the reason for his prayer,

is that God has taken Jews and Gentiles and reconciled them,

and has reconciled them together to God through Jesus Christ.

And because we are built up as a new temple of God,

what is natural for a temple is to be filled with the presence of God.

So that's what he prays for in this passage.

Now you are building, Lord, this temple of God, the church.

Please fill them.

That's what Paul is praying for in this passage.

Now, as he prays, following the model of the prayer that taught his disciples in Matthew 6, 9 to 13,

Paul addresses his prayer to God, the Father, right?

Our Father in heaven.

And, of course, since God is one,

and each of the three persons of the Trinity is fully God.

So it's not inappropriate for us to pray to the Son or to the Holy Spirit.

We see an example of the apostles, for example, praying to the Lord, which is the Lord Jesus,

in Acts 1, 24.

Stephen, while being stoned to death, in Acts 7, 59, prays,

Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

But there's no example in the Bible of directly praying to the Holy Spirit,

but that's been prominent throughout the history of the church as well.

So this is true.

But with all this said, however, the dominant pattern throughout Scripture is to pray to God the Father,

because there is a logical order within the relations of the Trinity

that determines how we relate to the persons of the triune God.

So in prayer, then, the pattern that is taught in Scripture,

we pray to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.

That's the pattern.

And C.S. Lewis writes about this extraordinary phenomenon in his book,

Mere Christianity.

And he says this, quote,

An ordinary, simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers.

He's trying to get in touch with God.

But if he is a Christian, he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God.

God, so to speak, inside him.

But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ,

the man who was God.

That Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him.

You see what is happening?

God is the thing to which he is praying, the goal he is trying to reach.

God is also the thing inside him which is pushing him on, the motive power.

God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal.

So that the whole threefold life of the three personal beings

is actually going on in that ordinary little bedroom

where an ordinary man is saying his prayers.

The man is being caught up into the higher kinds of life.

He is being pulled into God by God while still remaining himself.

Isn't that such a beautiful picture of prayer?

In prayer, when we pray to God, we're communing with God.

In a sense, really, our souls are partaking in his spirit.

There's an interchange.

There's this conversation, communication,

and we experience our union with God through prayer.

And if we think about prayer this way, how can we not long to pray,

to desperately want to pray, to enjoy this communion with God?

What a mystery, right?

What a privilege it is that God himself speaks to us and listens to us,

that God himself mediates for us and helps us as we pray,

and that God himself intercedes for us and energizes us to pray.

Isn't that amazing?

And Paul gives us more details about this prayer to the Father

and why it's appropriate to pray to him in verse 15.

From whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

There's a wordplay here between the word father and the word family.

The two words in Greek look and sound almost identical.

And what that wordplay is highlighting is that there's an obvious,

the logical connection between the fact that God is sovereign creator of all things,

and therefore he rules and reigns over all of creation.

Right?

So he's the household of, so to speak, of all creation.

Every family in heaven and on earth.

So he's referring to not just earthly beings, but also heavenly beings, spiritual beings.

God is over them all.

Now, I do need to add a couple qualifiers so that you don't get sidetracked

because there's two things that this does not mean.

One, it doesn't mean that God has physical, biological kinship ties with all people

or with any angels, angels or angelic beings.

It's a metaphor.

Right?

Second thing that it doesn't mean is that everyone in heaven and on earth will be saved in the end,

constituting one large family of God.

Ephesians makes it abundantly clear that not all belong to the family of God, which is the church.

The point that Paul is making here is not that everybody will be saved to be a part of the family,

but that everybody is part of the family in the sense that God rules over them all.

He's sovereign over them all.

That's the point that he's trying to make here.

Now, that's why he mentions specifically that God, the Father,

is the one from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

Right?

What's the significance of that?

Why are they named by him?

When God names something, right, throughout scripture,

he's exercising his dominion over them.

He's stamping them with his authority saying,

I made this.

I created this.

I saved this.

I redeemed this.

So I get to name it.

Right?

I mean, if you make something, you get to name it.

Right?

I mean, that's the idea behind this.

In Isaiah 40, 26, he expresses it.

It says,

God is the sovereign creator and ruler who named every earthly and heavenly creature.

So he is the one to whom we owe all of our allegiance and to whom we owe our very existence.

So it makes sense then that we pray to God, the Father.

Right?

And we could pray with great faith because he is the sovereign ruler.

He is powerful to be able to answer our prayers.

And it also makes sense that we approach him with great humility.

Right?

Since we are so weak and insignificant, but we're approaching this powerful almighty creator.

That's why Paul says in verse 14,

I bow my knees before the Father.

Right?

This is a well-attested manner of praying throughout scripture.

For example, according to Daniel 6.10,

the prophet Daniel apparently prayed three times a day on his knees.

Right?

Paul bows his knees in prayer.

And this is, I love that image because it's not just like a rote thing that he was taught,

you know, like in Sunday school.

Right?

When you learn to pray for the first time, they're like,

close your eyes.

Right?

Bow your head.

Clasp your hands.

And kneel down.

Right?

I mean, that's not what he's thinking.

He's doing this for a reason.

And it's the fact that he's imagining himself that as he prays,

he's praying as if he's very in front of, before the face of God.

He's in the throne room of God himself.

And when you approach a king, you kneel or you fall prostrate.

Right?

That's what Paul's doing.

So as he prays, he knows, he's so aware of the presence of God in which he has,

whose audience he has, he bows his knees before him to express,

one, his submission and two, his humiliation, his humility before God.

Right?

It's the conquered enemies and subjects of kings who kneel.

Right?

And scripture elsewhere tells us at the end of time,

every knee will bow down before Jesus.

But Paul does this willingly, not reluctantly, not begrudgingly,

freely, lovingly.

He submits to God, expresses his humility before God in prayer.

And the fact that Paul substitutes this expression to bow my knees,

to stand for the word to pray, suggests that this is probably his regular practice.

Like he's like, when he thinks of praying, he's thinking of bowing his knees.

So this is something that he regularly does.

And this doesn't mean, now, I'm not saying that every time we pray, we have to kneel.

Right?

There are other manners of praying that's also attested in scripture.

However, what it does mean is that there is very good reason to kneel when we pray.

Right?

And we should consider that as an option when we pray.

Because whether we admit it or not, our attitudes are affected by our postures.

Are they not?

Right?

That's why, right, teachers at schools tell their kids to sit up.

Right?

Because it makes them alert.

It makes them learn better.

Right?

That's why the military commanders tell those soldiers to stand at attention.

Right?

Because it affects their attitudes.

Right?

What they do.

Right?

That's why when a judge tells a witness to raise his right hand,

to swear that he will tell nothing but the whole truth,

why do you do that physical act?

That's not necessary.

Because it affects their attitude, adds a solemnity to what they are doing

and saying that they're going to do.

So our postures affect our attitudes.

That's why it matters how we listen to sermons.

That's why it matters how we sing and worship.

That's why it matters how we pray.

And it matters that we're, you know, half asleep in bed

and scrolling through our Bible app.

Or sitting at a desk with an open Bible with a coffee in hand.

It matters.

Right?

And by kneeling in prayer,

we express and reinforce our submission to God

and humility before God.

Right?

And having told us about to whom he prays

and how he prays,

now Paul tells us about the basis for his prayer in verse 16,

that according to the riches of his glory,

he may grant you to be strengthened with power

through his spirit in your inner being.

According to, that's the clue here,

that's the basis for Paul's prayer.

Why it's worthwhile for him to pray.

What fuels his faith for prayer is this,

the riches of God's glory.

What is that?

Right?

What are the riches of God's glory?

Because glory is the manifestation of God's deity.

Right?

It's all that is what the means to be God

is summarized, summed up in the word glory.

So here, it could really refer to any number of his attributes and perfections.

So, but thankfully, we're not left in the dark here

because there has been a rich history in the context of Ephesians

of the use of the word riches, right?

The word riches occurs five times in Ephesians.

Of particular interest are parallels in 1, 7, 2, 7, and 3, 8.

And in chapter 1, verses 6 to 7,

he mentions God's glorious grace.

And then in the following verse, verse 7, Paul says,

In Christ we have redemption through his blood,

the forgiveness of our trespasses,

according to the riches of his grace.

Right?

And then in chapter 2, verse 7, he says that God made us alive with Christ

so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches

of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

And then similarly, he also said in chapter 3, verse 8,

he talked about the unsearchable riches of Christ.

So to summarize then, the word riches throughout the book of Ephesians

refers to God's bountifulness, right?

His generosity toward us.

And when it's, and what, it's the glorious grace.

And this commentator and pastor Brian Chappell puts it really helpfully.

He says, the riches of God are those that cancel spiritual debt.

Right?

That's the riches of God that he talks about,

Paul talks about in Ephesians.

And the riches of God are so abundant

that not only does it cancel spiritual debt,

it enriches us.

It makes us heirs of the king

with the heavenly inheritance incumbent upon that status.

We go from being impoverished, wretched sinners,

paupers in debtors prisoned,

to being heirs, children of God,

children of the king of all creation,

and heirs of his glorious riches.

That's the basis.

That's why it's worthwhile for Paul to pray.

And he prays on behalf of the Ephesian church

that according to the riches of his glory,

he may grant you to be strengthened.

And if the basis of Paul's prayer is the riches of God's glory,

the goal, the ultimate goal of Paul's prayer

is also God's glory.

Right?

So he concludes his prayer in verse 21 by praising God.

To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus

throughout all generations forever and ever.

Amen.

And the whole intercessory prayer actually in this passage

from verses 14 to 21 has a chiastic structure.

And a chiasm is a literary device

where it's structured concentrically

so that each element of the first half of the passage

has a corresponding element

that mirrors that element in the second half.

So to kind of show you what I mean by that.

So in verses 14 to 16a,

okay, so when I use ABC,

I'm just kind of numbering the clauses within each verses.

So when it's in verses 14 to 16a,

it says glory of God the Father

from whom every family is named.

And then the corresponding element of that is verse 21

where it talks about glory to God the Father

throughout all generations and families.

And then the next element is power through his spirit

in your inner being in 16b to c.

And then the corresponding element to that is verse 20,

power at work within us,

like inner being.

And then after that,

it's Christ may dwell in your heart, 17a.

And then it's 19b,

that would be filled with the fullness of God,

so dwelling, filling.

And then the next one is rooted and grounded in love, 17b.

And then it's know the love of Christ, 19a.

And then what's amazing about this chiastic structure

is that there's one element in the middle

that stands out,

that alone doesn't have a matching corresponding element.

And that's the point,

that's the main point that Paul emphasizes.

And that here is in verse 18.

To comprehend with all the saints

what is the breadth and length

and height and depth.

And I'm gonna explain that

and cover that in a second.

So keep that structure in mind

because that's why I'm covering that last verse now

to kind of meet you in the middle as we go.

Because that's the basis for Paul's prayer

is the prayer to the Father

is according to the grace.

But how will we be strengthened?

By what means will Paul's prayer be answered?

And the means is spelled out in verse 16.

And that's my second point,

power through the Spirit.

That according to the riches of His glory,

He may grant you to be strengthened with power

through His Spirit in your inner being.

That's the means,

power through His Spirit.

So the riches of God's glory is the basis

for His prayer to the Father

and now the means by which that will be accomplished,

the power through the Spirit.

And verse 16 is mirrored by verse 20,

which says,

now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly

than all that we ask or think

according to the power at work within us.

So power,

that's a key word in the book of Ephesians.

It's used five times throughout the letter.

And in chapter 1, verse 19,

it was used to describe the power

that of this work at work in the lives of believers

and the power,

the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

And it's not surprising as we think about this

that the source of this power is the Spirit,

that Spirit is particularly associated with power

because it's the characteristic of our present age,

this new covenant age,

after the time of the death and resurrection

and ascension of Jesus Christ,

that God's people are indwelled by

and empowered by the Spirit of God.

We were actually just talking about this

in the membership class this morning,

is that it's when Jesus ascends to the heavens,

that's when he promised that the Spirit of God would descend.

And he tells his disciples,

he doesn't tell them to,

okay, as soon as I'm gone,

just go and start preaching the gospel.

He doesn't say that.

He tells them to wait

until they're closed in power from on high.

And he says in Acts 1.8,

you will receive power

when the Holy Spirit has come upon you

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem

and in all Judea and Samaria

and to the ends of the earth.

Throughout the news,

the word power is almost synonymous

with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The intervening age between Christ's first coming

and Christ's second coming

is the age of the Spirit characterized by his power.

Now, there's a theologian named John Murray.

He was a Scottish-born Calvinist theologian.

He taught at Princeton Seminary during its heyday

when it was still the bastion of Christian orthodoxy.

And when Princeton started to stray from that orthodoxy,

he left with a whole bunch of other sound teachers

of the gospel to start Westminster Theological Seminary.

So he was a Presbyterian most of his life.

He wrote the most often used theological textbook

on the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

All that to say, I'm just trying to show you

that he's not an unhinged charismatic.

Now, but this is what he says in one of his writings.

If Pentecost is not repeated,

which is something that a lot of people like to say, right?

Because if Pentecost, that was one sin for all.

So don't expect power now, right?

Don't expect it.

So if Pentecost is not repeated,

neither is it retracted.

This is the era of the Holy Spirit, right?

And the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit

is the distinctive marker of this particular age.

1 John 4 to 13 says,

By this we know that we abide in God and he in us

because he has given us of his spirit.

You're not a Christian if you're not filled

with the presence of God, with the spirit of God.

And you will make no progress in the Christian life

apart from the power of the spirit.

If our life and ministry are not characterized

by the spirit's power,

then there's something profoundly amiss

about our Christianity.

And we are in dire need of this truth, aren't we?

This day and age.

Because we're so accustomed to turning to other powers

and relying on our own strength.

When people see something wrong with the world today,

what's often our first inclination, right?

It's to solve it with activism, right?

When we see something wrong with the world,

our first inclination is to solve it with activism.

You know, people turn to social media to vent about it.

Some people who are more involved even blog about it, right?

Others will stage a protest

or even put on a conference to address it.

Sure, there's a place for all of those things,

but all those things are for not without the spirit's power.

So why is our first inclination

not to turn to concerted prayer?

When people struggle with addictions,

maybe to pornography

or simply compulsive news feed browsing on your phones,

often the first inclination is to solve it with technology.

Just install this great filter

or this thing that blocks you out

after you've spent a certain amount of time on your phone.

But why?

That will not offer a lasting solution to the problem.

Why is our first inclination not to turn to prayer

so that God transforms our hearts?

When our brothers and sisters are struggling

to eradicate deeply entrenched patterns of sin in their lives,

instead of turning to pragmatic solutions,

sure, use wisdom,

sure, use pragmatic things that we have at our disposal,

but they cannot replace or precede

dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit's power strengthens us in our inner being

so that the love of Christ takes root in our hearts

and grows so that the weeds in our lives,

the weeds of sin,

they lose hold and they wither away.

That's why Paul prays

that the Ephesian church would be strengthened with power

through His Spirit in your inner being.

And the inner being is simply a contrast to outer being.

We don't have to go into, you know,

details about trying to explain that.

And it refers to the moral, spiritual side of people

as opposed to the physical side.

Paul used the same expression in 2 Corinthians 4, 16,

when he writes,

though our outer self is wasting away,

our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Now, I mentioned earlier that within this chiastic structure,

what corresponds, what mirrors,

verse 16 is verse 20.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly

than all that we ask or think,

according to the power at work within us, right?

The power at work within us through the Holy Spirit

is such that God is able to do far more abundantly

than all that we ask or think.

Sometimes we are too timid and faithless

in what we ask of God, aren't we?

We don't ask him for much

because we don't think that he can do much.

But God is able to do far more abundantly

than all that we ask,

according to the power at work within us.

And God is not merely adequate for the task.

He's able to do far more abundantly

than all that we think.

And not only can God do all that we ask,

more than we ask,

it says he can do more than we can think, right?

We think that it's God's power that's limited

when we come to him in prayer.

But it's our imagination that's limited.

It's our faith that's limited.

How this would transform our prayer life

if we really believed it.

God can do far more abundantly

than all that we ask or think.

If we really believed it,

wouldn't we pray far more frequently

and far more boldly?

Maybe you feel defeated

by persistent temptation in your life

and you're starting to doubt and despair

whether you'll ever be able to overcome

that sin in your life.

Maybe you feel dejected.

Maybe you feel depressed

from disappointment after disappointment,

downtrodden by the suffering in your life,

the circumstances.

Maybe you're facing difficulties.

You have circumstances in your life

that seems insurmountable.

You don't know how you're going to face them

and overcome them.

In all of those things,

no matter what you are going through,

no matter what situation you're in,

hear this.

God is able.

He's able

to do far more abundantly

than all that we ask or think

according to the power at work with this.

Apply it today.

We need to pray to the Father

for power through the Spirit.

And then Paul moves on to the core,

the crux of his intercity prayer

in verses 17 to 19.

And this brings me to my final point,

the presence of Christ.

Paul says in verses 17 to 19,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts

through faith,

that you being rooted and grounded in love

may have strength to comprehend

with all the saints

what is the breadth and length

and height and depth,

and to know the love of Christ

that surpasses knowledge,

that you may be filled

with all the fullness of God.

In verse 17,

Christ dwelling in our hearts

corresponds to mirrors,

verse 19,

that you may be filled

with all the fullness of God.

Both are temple language, right?

Because we're temples of God.

We were actually one temple of God

as the church.

Now we should be indwelled by God

and filled by God.

So even though this idea

has been much abused,

I'm sure you guys have heard this

or seen this.

You know, people say,

hey, invite Jesus into your heart.

Accept him into your heart, right?

So this is a little bit overused

and abused sometimes,

but there is biblical basis

for that teaching, right?

It says Christ dwells our hearts.

Now, however,

there is a key difference

in which Christians

usually use that expression

and the way it's used here

in Ephesians

is that Christians,

we normally tell that

to unbelievers, right?

We tell unbelievers,

hey, accept Jesus into your heart.

We assume,

we take for granted

that believers already have

Christ in their hearts.

But what's interesting

is Paul here

is addressing believers.

He tells believers,

I pray for you

that Christ would dwell

in your hearts.

What?

What's going on?

Right?

I got Christ, Paul.

Right?

Because, I mean,

that's very clear

from the preceding context, right?

In chapter 2, 11, 13,

he talked about,

remember at one time

you were separated from Christ,

alienated from Him,

but now you have been brought near

by the blood of Christ.

So he's talking to those people

who have been brought near

who are now in Christ

and he tells these people

they need to be filled

with the fullness of God,

that they need to be

indwelled by Christ.

What is going on?

This is similar

to Luke's use of the phrase

in the book of Acts,

full of the Holy Spirit.

You guys have heard that

used before.

New Testament scholar

Max Turner

puts it this way

in his book,

Power From on High.

Luke does not believe

all Christians

to be full of the Spirit.

That's why

in Acts 6, 3,

they select people

who are full of the Spirit

for the task

that they have at hand.

And he says,

this metaphor,

I'm continuing to quote,

this metaphor is used

precisely to distinguish

those whose lives

are particularly marked

by the work of the Spirit

from ordinary Christians.

And in Luke,

second terms,

the criterion for judging

whether it is appropriate

to speak of someone

as full of the Spirit

is whether the community

of Christians felt

the impact of the Spirit

through that person's life

and saw the Spirit's graces

and gifts

regularly expressed

through him or her.

Right?

Now, don't hear

what I'm not saying.

All believers

are possessed

by the Holy Spirit.

But not all of them

are full

of the Holy Spirit.

Similarly,

while it is true

that when we repent

and believe in Jesus Christ,

we are indwelled by Christ

through the infilling

of the Holy Spirit

once and for all,

that's true,

it is nevertheless

also true

that we must continue

to grow

in our nearness to God,

awareness of His presence,

and increasingly submit

every area of our lives

to His Lordship.

That's what He's talking about.

We need to be indwelled

by Christ more and more

with a greater measure of Christ,

filled with more and more

of God.

We've talked about this before

in the Gospel of John.

There's a difference

between union with Christ,

which is the objective reality

that happens

when we believe in Him,

we're united with Him

in faith,

and then there's

a difference between

that union with Christ

and communion with Christ.

Communion is our subjective

experience of that union,

our experience of that fullness,

that indwelling.

We need to grow in that,

and we need to pray

for everyone

that we would grow in that.

And what does it look like?

As Galatians 2.20 says,

I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live,

but Christ who lives in me,

and the life I now live

in the flesh,

I live by faith

in the Son of God

who loved me

and gave Himself for me.

What does that mean?

When the Bible speaks of

being filled with something,

it's speaking of being

controlled by it,

dominated by it.

When you're filled with joy,

you're controlled by that joy.

Your life is defined by it.

When you're filled with fear,

you're controlled by that fear.

When he says,

be filled with all the fullness of God,

he's praying that the Ephesian church

would be controlled,

dominated by God.

Likewise, Christ dwelling in our hearts.

What does that suggest?

It's ownership.

He indwells us.

He lives in us.

We belong to Him.

So then, of course,

everything we do,

all our resting,

all our working,

all our playing,

all our listening,

all our talking,

all our watching,

all of it has to be brought

under the lordship of Christ.

That's what it means

for Christ to dwell

in our hearts through faith.

And it's by faith.

We need to believe that

and live by that.

That's what it means

to have more and more

of the fullness of God,

of the presence of Christ.

Are you aware of that?

Are you walking with Christ?

Are you keeping in step

with the Spirit?

Or are we,

or are you acting

as if you're taking leave of Him

when you leave the Sunday service

until we get back together again?

That kind of life

falls so short

of the fullness

of the love of Christ,

the joy and power

that God desires for us.

I pray that we would

even today experience

a greater measure

of Christ dwelling

in our hearts through faith.

We may be filled

with all the fullness of God.

But in our life

filled with Christ

and to live for Him,

we have to be assured

of Christ's love for us.

And so Paul continues

to pray in verse 17b

that we would be rooted

and grounded in love.

The word rooted

is an agricultural word,

right?

And it's related to

earlier word

that he used,

strengthen.

The word strengthen

can also mean

to hold fast

onto something,

to grasp onto something.

So he's saying

that we need to be rooted

and strengthened

in the love of Christ,

in love.

And he also said

that we need to be grounded.

That's an architectural term

which means

to lay a foundation.

And this also

is conceptually related

to the other word

that he used

which is for Christ

to dwell in us

because the foundation

has to be laid

with the love of Christ

in order for Christ

to dwell in that temple,

in that house.

So we need to be rooted

and grounded.

And he's using terms

that Jesus himself used.

If you remember

the parable of the sower

in Matthew 13, 6

and verse 21,

Jesus compared

so-called Christians

who lose their faith

when tribulation

or persecution come

to plants

that wither away

because it had no root.

It was not rooted.

Similarly,

in the parable

of the builder

in Matthew 7, 24 to 27,

Jesus contrasts

so-called Christians

who hear God's word

and then don't do

anything about it,

don't obey,

don't respond to it,

to people

who build their house

on the foundation

of sand.

And he contrasts

that with Christians,

true Christians,

who hear the word of God

and obey it

and respond to it

as people who build,

builders who build

their foundation

on rock.

That's what he's praying

for here for the church,

that we'd be rooted

and grounded

in God's love.

And this is mirrored

by verse 19,

which said,

that we might know

the love of Christ

that surpasses knowledge.

Up to this point,

Paul had mostly talked

about the Father's love,

but it's true

that the Son,

Christ,

also loves us

because he dies

for us willingly.

He takes on the cross

for our sake

out of love

and out of love

for the Father

and out of love

for us.

And he talks about this

later in chapter 5 too.

Christ loved us

and gave himself up

for us.

Christ took our place

on the cross

and he died

so that sinners like us

can be saved

and take his place

next to the Father's side.

That's what this

is referring to.

And he thinks,

the way he thinks

about the love of Christ

is so grand

and immense

that he refers

to an oxymoron

to explain this concept.

That we might know

the love of Christ

that surpasses

knowledge.

Isn't that great?

In effect,

he's praying

that we would know

the unknowable

love of Christ.

I want to know

that unknowable love.

Right?

And Paul prays

and continues this

in verse 18

that brings us

to the crux,

the centerfold

of this chiastic structure.

It says

that we may have

strength

to comprehend

with all the saints

what is the breadth

and length

and height

and depth.

Now,

I do need to

digress a little bit here

because

I need to explain

this to you

because some of you guys

have the NIV.

How many of you guys

are using the NIV?

So if you're using the,

oh, are you the only one?

Maybe I won't do it.

I'm just kidding.

So if you're looking

at some of the other

translations,

so the NIV,

for example,

probably the most

prominent example

of this,

it says,

breadth and length

and height

and depth

of the love of Christ.

That's what it says

on there.

That's not what it says

in the ESV.

And that's actually,

that's the wrong translation

just because

it's a great example

of the interpretation

affecting translation

because they're assuming

that breadth and depth

and height and length

is referring to

the love of Christ

which is mentioned

in the following verse.

So because they're already

making that assumption,

they're just now

interpolating that

to this verse

to make sense of it

so that it's clear

for people

because in the Greek

New Testament,

it doesn't tell us

what that exactly is.

It's just nouns,

the breadth and length

and height and depth.

It just says,

what is the breadth

and length

and height and depth?

Now, having ruled that out then,

what does that leave us with?

What does it mean?

And how can we find out

what this means?

And I think this will be

a helpful exercise

in practicing

our commitment

to scripture,

sola scriptura, right?

Scripture alone

is our foundational authority,

normative authority.

And as we're going through

this Ephesian series,

we're celebrating

the 500th anniversary

of the Protestant Reformation.

And one of the core tenets

of that was scripture alone.

Not pastors,

not priests,

not church councils,

not church traditions,

but scripture alone

is the foundational authority

for our life

and practice.

And that's why

labor to prove things to you

instead of just telling you

what I think.

Because if it's not scriptural,

then you shouldn't believe it.

And so,

how can we tell?

So let's look at

the immediate context

of the verse.

Do you notice anything

in the verses

preceding that?

18 and verses

following that,

that might be referred to

by the breadth and depth,

breadth and length

and height and depth.

You don't have to respond.

You can if you want to.

But,

so,

look at,

look at what it says

at the end.

That you should be filled

with all the fullness

of God, right?

Fullness is something,

it's volume,

something you describe

with depth,

breadth,

length and height,

right?

And so,

so that's,

that's a great possibility.

So what else can

the dimensional language

be referring to here?

And if you look at

other contexts,

like,

let's look at the rest

of the book of Ephesians.

In chapter 1,

verses 19 to 20,

it uses measuring language,

dimensional language.

It says,

let the immeasurable

greatness

of God's power

toward us who believe

that he worked in Christ

when he raised him

from the dead.

So,

immeasurable power,

so that seems to relate

to this concept

of these dimensions.

He uses that word again

later in chapter 2,

verse 7,

so that in the coming ages

he might show

the immeasurable riches

of his grace

and kindness

toward us

in Christ Jesus.

And that's similar

to another thing

that he says,

the unsearchable

riches of Christ,

right?

So,

all of these things,

he's been using these terms

throughout the book,

so that's already helpful

for us.

What can be the breadth

and length

and depth

and height?

Another possibility

is in 310,

he says that

through the church,

the manifold wisdom

of God

might now be made known

to the rulers

and authorities

in the heavenly places.

Now,

that was not exactly

a term of measurement,

but it's getting

at a similar idea.

Now,

I'm going to show you

something that's

so helpful

for studying Bible

and reading,

learning how to read

the Bible on your own,

because that's one

of my tasks

as well as a pastor

is not just to teach you

what the Bible says,

but also teach you

how to read the Bible

for yourself,

and that's what I do

in preaching as well.

So,

if you look at your Bibles,

there's tiny little letters

that's next to some words

and verses,

and in that you,

and those are cross-references.

Now,

if you look at

the tiny little letter

next to verse 18

in the ESV,

it's a small letter E

before the word height.

You guys follow that?

And you follow it

to where the reference is.

It tells you

other parts of Scripture

that speak about

the same issue

or that relate

to the language

that's used in that.

And it's pointing you

to Job 11,

5 to 9.

It says,

but oh,

look for Job 11,

5 to 9

if you haven't seen that

in your reference.

If you don't have

that reference

in your cross-references,

then we'll get you

a new Bible

because that's,

you should really

have that.

Yeah.

And so,

but oh,

that God would speak

and open his lips to you

and that he would tell you

the secrets of wisdom

for he is manifold

in understanding.

Know then

that God exacts of you

less than your guilt deserves.

Can you find out

the deep things of God?

Can you find out

the limit of the Almighty?

It is higher than heaven.

What can you do?

Deeper than Sheol,

what can you know?

Its measure is longer

than the earth

and broader than the sea,

right?

That's helpful,

isn't it?

Illuminating.

Because that's the only place

in all of Scripture

and in all ancient literature

where all four

of those dimensions

occur together,

except for one other instance

that I will mention.

And so here,

it's referring in particular

to the wisdom of God,

the limitless wisdom

and knowledge of God,

but it's talking

more in general

about the immensity of God.

Can you find out

the limit of the Almighty?

That Job asks, right?

Or the character

in Job's book, Acts.

So it's talking

about the eternality,

the infiniteness,

the immensity of God.

Now, it's interesting

that in the context

of the Greco-Roman culture

in which Paul's writing this,

it was very well observed

that everything

that you see in creation

is marked by three dimensions,

right?

Right?

So it has length,

and it has breadth,

and it has depth, right?

And one of the Greek

Platonic philosophers

argued that it's when

you add the fourth dimension,

right,

that you reach the realm

of gods or spirits,

as he was arguing, right?

And some of the magical papyrus

that have been found

from this era

where people use incantations

in magic rituals,

there are two examples

where people refer

to their God

as the height,

the depth, right?

The breadth,

the depth,

and length,

and height, right?

So what does that tell us?

All of those clues.

First, most importantly,

the biblical context,

and then the historical

and cultural context.

I think what it's referring to

is this.

It's the breadth and depth,

the length and height and depth.

By adding that fourth element,

the height,

to what we would normally use

to describe all creation,

Paul is saying,

pointing us to the immensity of God,

his infinite,

his eternality.

God is great.

He surpasses your understanding.

He surpasses your limits.

He's all,

he's talking in short

and about the fullness of God

and the fullness of Christ

that he's been talking about

throughout this passage.

Colossians 1, 19,

it says,

In Christ,

all the fullness of God

was pleased to dwell.

Ephesians 1, 23,

he said,

The church is Christ's body,

the fullness of him

who fills all in all, right?

Isn't that similar

to the language here?

That's what Paul

is referring to here,

and that's why he prays

that along with all the saints,

because the church

is the body of Christ,

that along with all the saints

that we would comprehend

what is the breadth

and length

and height

and depth.

That's a staggering truth,

and Paul wants us

to take hold of it.

That's what the word

comprehend means.

If only you knew

what the breadth,

length,

and height,

and depth

of God's love

toward you is,

you would love him so

and long for him

and serve him

with all your heart,

soul, mind, and strength.

If you only knew

what is the breadth

and length

and height

and depth

of God's power

toward you,

then you would seek him,

look to him,

depend on him

rather than on yourself.

If you only knew

what is the breadth

and length

and height

and depth

of God's wisdom

toward you,

then you would trust him

in all your circumstances,

no matter how difficult

or puzzling

they may be.

And you would have

no room for bitterness

or discontent.

If only you knew

what is the breadth

and length

and height

and depth

of God's grace

toward you,

then you would not

wallow

in your guilt.

And you would be

overcome

with gratitude

and freedom.

And you would be

overcome

that's what Paul

is praying for,

that Christ

would dwell in us,

that God

would fill us,

that we would know,

comprehend,

take hold of,

capture what is

the breadth

and length

and height

and depth.

It's like

a king

with his glorious crown

and splendid robe

entering in

to dwell

in a mud hut.

earth.

It's like

pouring a million

dollar perfume

and there is

such a thing

as a million

dollar perfume

into broken

jars of clay.

It's like God

taking on

human flesh

with all its

infirmities.

It's like the

king of glory

taking up the

cross,

the instrument

of execution

as his throne.

That's

the reality

Paul wants us

to take hold of.

That's what Christ

did for us

and that's what

Christ wants

to do for us

to dwell in our hearts

more and more.

So let's pray

as the church

to the Father

so that through

the power

of the Spirit

we may be filled

with the presence

of God.

Let's pray together.

God,

words can't

quite describe

this privilege.

So fittingly,

Paul can't say

any more

than just simply

to say,

oh,

what is

the breath,

the length,

the height,

and depth?

God,

we want to know

the love of Christ

that surpasses

knowledge.

We want to know

the immeasurable riches

of his grace

and kindness

toward us.

We want to know

the unsearchable riches

of Christ toward us.

We want to know

the immeasurable power

of Christ toward us.

Please,

Lord,

work in us

so that our lives

will be radically

transformed

so that we can be

Christ's

to all

those whom

we encounter,

living by the

priorities

and the power

of the

triune God.

In Jesus' name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.