Bible Commentaries
Ephesians 3

Verses 1-5

Now as we come to this third chapter of the book of Ephesians, we have the revelation of the church which is the body of Christ as to what it is and its nature. In the first 13 verses of the chapter we have the revelation given to us; and then the last part of the chapter is Paul’s second prayer, a prayer for strength, for power and for fellowship.

Now in the very first verse you have a key to what Paul went through because of this revelation. Allow me to read these first few and will you follow along with me, please:

Ephesians 3:1. For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

Ephesians 3:2. If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

Ephesians 3:3. How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

Ephesians 3:4. Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

Ephesians 3:5. 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.

Now here you have a revelation. In the first verse you have Paul’s own personal experience. Be­cause of his teaching and preaching of this revelation of the church made up of Jews and Gentiles, Paul could say for this cause, because of his allegiance to God and his desire for men to become members of the church of Christ, he became “the prisoner of Je­sus Christ for you Gentiles.”

You know, here is a wonderful thing. Paul never said he was a prisoner of Rome. In chapter 4 of this same book, the first verse, he referred to himself as “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord.” You know, there’s a dignity about this I like. He didn’t say the Romans came and took me prisoner and I’m now here in chains in Rome in prison and I’m sorry but I’m the prisoner of the Romans.

No, oh no. He’s beyond that and above that. “Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles.” I love to think of this. The reason why the Apostle Paul was in prison was because he had opened the door to the Gentiles.

Now, it might be well for me to stop here for a few moments. In fact, I would say it is very difficult for us who are Gentiles to appreciate that through which Paul was going. You know in Acts 22:1-30; Acts 23:1-35, you have where the Apostle Paul is giving his de­fense before Israel, and the great issue is that he’s been going to the Gentiles with the word of God.

“Well,” you say, “what’s wrong with that? Didn’t Jesus Christ. say, ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’? Weren’t some of the last words of our Saviour in Acts 1:8, ‘All authority is mine in heaven and earth. Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth.’ Wasn’t Paul just obeying the commands of Christ?”

Yes, but you see, he was Jew; and the early church was made up of Jews. In fact, you don’t read of any Gentiles really being saved until you come to the 10th chapter of the book of Acts when Peter went down to the house of Cornelius. You get a little pic­ture there of the prejudice that was in the hearts and minds of even the disciples concerning the Gentiles.

When our Lord was here in Matthew 15:24; Matthew 15:26, He could say, “I was sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I can’t take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.” He’s talking of Gentiles. In Romans 15:1-33; Romans 16:1-27, chapter 15 especially, where Paul says that he was sent to confirm the promises made to the fathers, the Gentiles were on the outside. Re­member that for 1500 years from Moses to Christ, the great commandment of God was that they should not mix up with the Gentiles; they must not inter­marry with the Gentiles. They had nothing to do with the Gentiles; they were a separate people unto God, and they tenaciously stood by that.

And now along comes Paul who says that this message is for the Gentiles. As I started to say a moment ago, when God was sending Peter to go down to the house of Cornelius at Caesarea, God had to give him a special revelation from heaven that what God had cleansed he was not to call common or unclean.

And now the Apostle Paul was having quite a time. You take in Galatians 2:14, he accuses Peter before them all because Peter was trying to make a difference between Jews and Gentiles. And it was because of Paul’s insistence that the gospel was for the Gentiles that he was in prison.

If he had restricted his message to the Jews, he wouldn’t have had the persecution that he had. But to bring in a message that would put the Jews and Gen­tiles on the same plane upset the orthodox. It was very, very difficult, for example, for John Mark to go along with his uncle Barnabas and Paul as they preached to the Gentiles. You see, there was no early indication that the Gentiles were going to be blessed. The place and the channel of their blessing was thought to be through the Jews.

And then along comes this man Paul who says, “No, sir; these Gentiles can come into direct connec­tion with God through Jesus Christ.” For saying that, the Jewish rabble went after him; they were going to tear him to pieces. They would have killed him if the Romans hadn’t rescued him. So you see, it’s a tre­mendous thing when Paul says, “I, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles.”

And then, see Ephesians 3:2-3, “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery;” and Ephesians 3:5, “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.”

Here is something which God has given to the Apostle Paul; it is a special revelation of a mystery.

And the mystery is the church, the body of Christ made up of Jews and Gentiles. It was because of this message that Paul could say, “I am the prisoner of Jesus Christ.” He brought the message of the gospel of the grace of God to Gentiles as well as Jews, mak­ing no difference. This was the issue, making no dif­ference between Jews and Gentiles.

I tell you, my friend, it makes no difference whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile, whether you are black or white or red. It makes no difference who you are or what you are, where you are or what you have done. The gospel of the grace of God is open to any individual who will accept it. As far as God is concerned there is no difference. As Romans 3:22-23 says, that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” What we need is a Saviour. Gentiles need saving and the Jewish people need saving; and there is only one ground of salvation and that is in Jesus Christ, God’s beloved Son.

And it was this message, the message of the grace of God that is for everybody and anybody, that led to his imprisonment. It is not for the righteous and the moral and the good folks. It’s for anybody, good, bad or indifferent, religious or irreligious. The message of the gospel of the grace of God concern­ing His Son, Jesus Christ, let me repeat, is open to anybody who will receive Him.

In Ephesians 3:2-5, we have the revelation of the mystery. Notice that Paul is a steward of the mani­fold, wonderful grace of God. This word “dispensation” by the way means a stewardship, a responsibili­ty. And Paul is saying, “God made me responsible for the revelation, not only of the grace of God, but of the church which is a mystery hidden in God from past ages.”

You remember, if I may refresh your memory, that in the book of Romans, Paul was given the reve­lation of the grace of God. In the book of Ephesians, God gave him the revelation of the church, the body of Christ. Now let’s read what he’s talking about.

Verse 3, “How that by revelation—” He wasn’t taught it by somebody else; he wasn’t taught it by Peter, James or John. God gave to Paul this special revelation of the church, the body of Christ.

Ephesians 3:3. How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

Ephesians 3:4. Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

Ephesians 3:5. 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.

Now let me just stop here for a few moments more. Here is something that was unknown to past ages—unknown. Adam didn’t know it; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob didn’t know it. Moses didn’t know it. Elijah didn’t know it. David didn’t know it. None of the prophets knew it.

“Now do you mean to tell us that what Paul is going to write about is something that was never known before?” you ask.

That’s correct. Look at Ephesians 3:5. Whatever this mystery was (we’ll come back to that in a few mo­ments), it was not made known unto the sons of men in past ages. It is now revealed unto His holy apos­tles and prophets by the Spirit. Now don’t read Old Testament prophets in there. You remember in Ephesians 4:11, He gives some to be prophets, some evangelists, pastors and teachers. He gave these gifted men to the church. He’s talking about a mys­tery, not something mysterious.

Now, what was this mystery? It was the mys­tery of the church, the body of Christ. It’s something new. You remember in 1 Corinthians 4:1, Paul says that he was made a steward of the mysteries of God. In fact, when you come to your New Testament, there are seven mysteries spoken of.

For example, in Ephesians 3:6; Ephesians 3:9-10 is the mys­tery of the church, the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:51 we have another mystery, the mystery of the translation of the church of Christ—Behold, I show you a mystery. We’re not all going to die, but we’re all going to be changed.

In 1 Timothy 3:16 he talks about the mystery of godliness. What was that? “God was manifest in the flesh.”

In Romans 11:25-27 we have another mys­tery—that blindness in part is happened to Israel, un­til the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.

In Revelation 17:5 we read of mystery Babylon.

When you come to 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8, you have the mystery of lawlessness which ends up in the antichrist.

And in Ephesians 5:32, you have the mystery of this relationship between the church and Christ. This marvelous union is between Christ and His people; that’s Ephesians 5:1-33, dealing there with our relation­ship and affection toward Him.

Verse 6

Now, in verse 6 of chapter 3, we have the nature of the mystery. Let’s read it,

Ephesians 3:6. That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.

Now we’re getting down to the reason why Paul was really persecuted: “That the Gentiles,” these dogs of Gentiles with no covenants, no promis­es, with no fathersjust idolaters, sinful men and women, outside the pale of Israel—should be fellow-heirs with the Jew, “and of the same body and par­takers of His promise in Christ by the gospel.” In other words, he’s telling us that there’s no difference now between Jew and Gentile in the body of Christ. We have the same position; we have the same place; we have the same inheritance; we have the same re­lationship, Jew and Gentile.

Now, let me say again, it was no mystery that the Gentiles were going to be blessed through the Jew. The Old Testament is full of that.

In the kingdom period, when our Lord reigns, Israel is to be the leading nation of the world. The Jew is to be the minister of God to the nations; and it is going to be through the Jew, through Israel, that the nations of the earth are going to learn of God. They were chosen to be God’s witnesses to the na­tions of the earth of the oneness of God. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deute­ronomy 6:4) and holy is His name.

This is going to be their job in the kingdom pe­riod when our Lord purges the rebels out of Israel and cleanses the nations. As Isaiah 66:8 says, there is going to be a nation born in a day, cleansed and re­newed and brought back into fellowship with God. Then God is going to use the Jews among the Gentile nations. This is Old Testament prophecy.

But now along comes Paul and says, “Wait a minute. God’s doing something today. He is not going to wait until the kingdom; but today He is tak­ing individuals, not nations. He’s taking Jews and Gentiles and redeeming them, giving them the same relationship, the same fellowship, the same inherit­ance. There is now no difference between the Jew and Gentile.”

As I said a moment ago, this stirred up the enmi­ty of the Jew against Paul for bringing such a mes­sage to the Gentile. So in verse 6, you have the na­ture of the mystery that the Gentiles are going to be on the same plane of equality with the Jew.

Do you remember in John 17:22, our precious Saviour could say, “The glory which thou gavest me I have given them.” Who? Every one who will be­lieve on Him through their word. I tell you, it was for this truth that Paul was persecuted. It caused an upheaval among the Jewish people when he brought this testimony. It was something never dreamed of before, that these Gentiles with no promises, no inhe­ritance should be made fellow-heirs with the Jewish people in Christ by the gospel.

Verses 6-13

From verses 6 through 13, we have the purpose of the mystery. What was the purpose of the Lord’s starting a church made up of Jews and Gentiles, in­dividuals, something of which Paul was made a spe­cial minister?

Now you’ll notice in verse 6, that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs.

Ephesians 3:6. That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

Ephesians 3:7. 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.

In verse 9,

Ephesians 3:9. And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

Ephesians 3:10. To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Ephesians 3:11. According to the eternal purpose which he pur­posed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now, here we are dealing with the eternal pur­pose of God. God wants us to see that His eternal purpose is in the church. What was the purpose of the mystery? To show forth the manifold wisdom of God.

You and I, for the most part, are concerned about those who live on the earth. We belong to the human family on this little planet called the earth. Now, there’s no question that the scriptures teach us that there are millions of holy angels and also teach us that there are myriads of demons following Satan, the arch enemy of our souls. And the scripture speaks of principalities and powers and authorities in the heavenlies. There is no question that there are myriads of created intelligences throughout God’s universe.

I question whether the earth is the only place where you have intelligence or that the earth is the only place where we have any created beings. I am not talking about human beings here. But the earth is being used by God to show forth aspects of His cha­racter, of His heart, so that the whole universe will know something of the grace of God and the wisdom of God.

For example, go back in chapter 2, verse 6 and listen to what it says. He has taken Jews and Gentiles who believe in His Son and has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What for? Now, mark this 7th verse, “That in the ages to come (in the eternal ages ahead of us) he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

Did you ever stop to think that the believer in Christ through eternal ages is going to be the demon­strator of the grace of God? That the only way whe­reby angels and principalities and powers may know of the grace of God is through you and me? And do you know that even today, as Paul says in 1 Corin­thians 4:9, we are made a spectacle on the world stage? God is making known through you and through me, Christian friend, the riches of His grace.

Do you think that just because nobody sees your life down here that you are not seen? I question if we Christians realize, if it could ever get a hold of us, that there’s a great multitude of unseen powers that see everything you do and hear everything you say. The revelation of His grace, the manifestation of His love, His mercy, His compassion are to be re­vealed through every individual Christian. In the ages to come we’re going to be demonstrators of the grace of God. God through you is going to show forth the exceeding riches of His grace.

Now you come to chapter 3:10.

Ephesians 3:10. Τo the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by (or through) the church the manifold wisdom of God.

Not only are you to display the grace of God, but the very wisdom of God is going to be made known through you and through me. It is beyond our comprehension, isn’t it?

“Do you mean to tell me, sir, that when I came as a sinner and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour, and that when He gave me life eternal and He forgave me my sins and made me His child and put me into the church, the body of Christ, that I’m to be an instrument in God’s hand through eternity for the instruction of all the great multitude of perso­nalities in the universe?”

Through you and me He’s going to make known His grace and His wisdom. That’s exactly what He is saying.

Oh, listen, friend, you’re never alone; you’re never alone. Your words, your actions, your attitude, your life are being seen. Are we going to bring dis­grace and reproach upon the name of Christ by the way we live? As Paul could say, “We are a sight, we are an object, we are the actors on the stage before angels, before men, before demons to display the grace of God, the love of God, the wisdom of God.

I can’t plumb the depths of the wisdom of God—why He should save a man like me and why He should save you. I don’t understand this wonder­ful, divine wisdom. But I do know one thing He’s revealed to us in His word. He wants you and me to know His purpose that He saves men and women to show forth His grace and to show forth His wisdom in the countless ages of eternity.

Believe me, my Christian friend, in the pur­pose of God we’re somebody. He’s going to make us somebody where the very holy angels will be your servants. I’m not making this up. I’m not becoming fanciful. This is what the Book says—that in the ages to come He will show forth the riches of His grace.

In the ages to come He’s going to show forth His wisdom through the church of Christ, through you and through me as individual members of the body of Christ.

Will you walk today, will you live today with this truth gripping your heart? We have a tremendous place in the purpose of God. We belong to Jesus Christ, and through us God has been pleased to dis­play His grace and His wisdom.

This question of the building of a church made up of individual Jews and Gentiles was purposed by God way back in eternity and is now being made manifest to us through the Apostle Paul here in the book of Ephesians. Now as you think of this, of the church, it had a tremendous effect upon Paul. And I wish sometimes it may have the same effect upon you and me. It so transformed this man Paul that he could say in the book of Colossians, I strive accord­ing to the working of Him who “worketh in me mightily.” I’m quoting from Colossians 1:29.

What is the eternal purpose of God which He purposed in Christ? That through the work of Christ on the cross and the resurrection and exaltation, He might gather together individual Jews and Gentiles and make them a new company called the church of which Christ is the head. And that through this com­pany of people He’s going to show forth through eternity the wonders of His grace and the marvels of His wisdom.

Now such a thing had a tremendous effect, I say, upon the Apostle Paul. Let’s look at how it affects him in Ephesians 3:7-9:

Ephesians 3:7. 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.

Ephesians 3:8. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gen­tiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

Ephesians 3:9. And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.

And you go down to verse 12,

Ephesians 3:12. In whom we have boldness and access with con­fidence by the faith of him.

Ephesians 3:13. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribula­tions for you, which is your glory.

The effect upon this man Paul is tremendous. He was transformed, you remember, from a Jew to a Christian. This man was before a blasphemer; now he’s a saint. Before, he was a Pharisee; now he’s an apostle. Before, he was a persecutor; now he’s a mis­sionary. My, what a tremendous transformation in this man.

May I repeat it? When he saw the tremendous wisdom of God manifested in Jesus Christ and the provision for our salvation, and that we were to be the instruments through whom he would display His grace and His wisdom to every created intelligence in the universe throughout all countless ages, I’m not surprised at the tremendous effect upon this man. This is the man who was before a blasphemer and now he’s a saint of God. This is the man who was a strict Pharisee, and now he’s an apostle of the Lamb of God. This is the man who was a Jew, transformed into a Christian, fellowshiping with Gentiles. This is the man who before persecuted the people of God and now he’s a missionary for God, carrying the message of the gospel of the grace of God to every­body. Oh, the effectual working of His power!

When I think of what Paul saw in the church of Christ, I’m sure that he reveled in these verses which he wrote to us, for example in 1:18-20, when he said, “We might know . . . what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.” And may I be allowed to quote again from Colossians 1:29, I strive according to the working of Him who “worketh in me mightily.” And then you see the tremendous humility of the man in verse 8,

Ephesians 3:8. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gen­tiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

Mark the man’s humility; he is “less than the least of all saints.” In 1 Timothy 1:15, he could say, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all accepta­tion, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” He called himself

“The chief of sinners,” and “less than the least of all saints.” And then you remember he speaks of it again when he said, “I am not meet to be called an apos­tle,” in 1 Corinthians 15:9. I’m not even fit to be called an apostle, “because I persecuted the church of God.”

I wonder, my friend, when you hear of the riches of the glory of His grace and the marvelous purpose of God in you and in me, what is the effect upon us? Does it make us proud or does it humble us? God grant it will humble us.

And the Apostle Paul could say in that same pas­sage of 1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”

If it had not been for the grace of God in re­deeming me, Mitchell, what in the world would I have been? Nobody knows where I would be. Be­cause of this tremendous fact, God transforms us from blasphemers into missionaries. He transforms us into saints. He transforms us from those who were afar off and makes us nigh. He transforms children of wrath into the children of God.

We who were unrighteous He now declares to be righteous. We who were afar off, without hope, without Christ, without God, are now intimate mem­bers of the family of God. We are objects of the wonderful grace of God; and I can say what Paul could say, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Chr­ist.”

Oh, the transforming power of the word of God, the transforming power of Christ. Will you do some­thing for me? Will you take the first chapter, the second chapter, the third chapter, and take the verses where you find the word “riches”; “riches of grace,” “riches of glory,” “unsearchable riches of Christ,” “riches of mercy.”

Just read them through. In Ephesians 1:7, we have forgiveness according to the riches of His grace. In Ephesians 2:4, we have this question of the richness of His mercy. In Ephesians 3:7, we have “the ex­ceeding riches of His grace;” in Ephesians 3:8, “the unsearcha­ble riches of Christ;” in Ephesians 3:16, “according to the riches of His glory.”

The verse that comes to my mind is Romans 11:33, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

I tell you, I can’t understand it. I can’t even be­gin to appreciate it. It’s so marvelous; it’s so wonder­ful; it’s beyond all the capacity of the human person to understand the unsearchable riches of Christ.

My friend, it’s going to take all eternity for us to begin to appreciate the riches of His grace, the riches of His mercy, the unsearchable riches of Chr­ist, to enjoy the riches of His glory, the riches of His inheritance in the saints. “Riches!”

Please don’t walk like paupers when we can en­joy the riches of God. I want you to revel today in the riches of His grace, the riches of His glory, the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ, the riches of His mercy.

Oh, friends, God grant you and me an enlarged capacity to appreciate the wonderful love, mercy and grace of God. I tell you, it’s beyond all human com­prehension; and when Paul saw it, when Paul caught a glimpse of this marvelous church of Christ in which he was a member, in which you and I are members, it humbled him. But it transformed him.

Believer, revel in your Saviour. Oh, the depths—let us not live like paupers; let us live as those who are rich in Christ.

Now not only did this cause Paul to be filled with humility, but also it filled him with a boldness. Will you notice in 3:12,

Ephesians 3:12. In whom we have boldness and access with con­fidence by the faith of him.

Notice the words he uses. Knowing something of God’s eternal purpose, this gave him boldness; this gave him confidence. It gave him boldness to speak; it gave him access without fear; it gave him confidence and trust. I’m sure that angels, holy an­gels in the presence of God, must have been as­tounded, must have been amazed at such boldness. When a man could come into the very presence of a holy, mighty, sovereign God and come with a confi­dence, with a boldness to speak!

As far as I know angelic beings cannot come in­to God’s presence unless bidden. As I’ve been telling you, my friend, in the church of Christ we’ve been brought into a relationship superior to holy angels who are our ministers.

Now, I do not want you to get the idea that we come into the presence of God with arrogance. I have heard Christians, and I say this very sadly, I have heard Christians talk about “Jesus” with a flip­pancy that is not the boldness of faith but the arrog­ance of the human nature. Can one who is redeemed, cleansed by the blood of Christ, a child of the living God, come into the presence of our holy, sovereign, mighty God with flippancy? With a lightness? With a shallowness that is so evident?

Paul here says, “We have boldness (and that word means boldness to speak) and access with con­fidence.” Why? We’re coming into our Father’s presence.

As he could say in Romans 8:15, “We cry, Abba, Father.”

You remember in 1 John 2:28, where John says, “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear,” we shall be bold to speak. We’ll not be full of fear. We have access into the very presence of God. We have access through the blood of Christ. This is the ground upon which we can come, the ground of redemption. We come on the ground of relationship as the children of God. And we come bold to speak, not with the boldness of arrogance but the boldness of faith. We come know­ing that we have a distinct place in the purpose of God, knowing that we are the objects of the love of our Father.

I’d like to suggest to you here, “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him.” You remember in Hebrews 4:16, Paul is saying to stumbling, weak believers, “Let us there­fore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” He says, “Come with boldness.” Why? It’s the throne of grace. We’re not coming to a throne of judgment. If we were, we’d come with terrible fear. We’d be scared to come. But we’re coming to the throne of grace. And the One who is seated upon that throne is full of the Spirit of grace.

Furthermore, He’s our Father and we are in re­lationship with Him. So we come with confidence, with boldness to speak. We have our access. I say again, it must be a tremendous amazement for angels to see the boldness of God’s people, the boldness of Paul. You remember, in the 24th Psalm, and I think I am reverent when I say this in my own words, “Open up, ye everlasting doors and let the King of Glory come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty in battle; the Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory.” And, of course, this speaks of our Saviour in resurrection and exaltation.

But are we not accepted in the Beloved? Does God not see us in His Son? And because of our rela­tionship to the Son, because we’re trusting in Him, we have access into His presence. Oh, I’d like to bring this before you that you and I might come to­day into the presence of God. This is why Paul could say in the next verse,

Ephesians 3:13. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribula­tions for you, which is your glory.

“Don’t worry about me,” says Paul. “I can come into the very presence of my Father. My circums­tances, though I’m in difficult circumstances and persecuted for the gospel’s sake, don’t sympathize with me,” says Paul. “I’ve access into the very pres­ence of my Father. I can come where angels fear to tread.”

Oh, the confidence! Am I talking to some stum­bling, weak, halting believer today? Listen, dear friend, are you down because of your failure? Be­cause of your mistakes? Because of your frailty and weaknesses? May I encourage you to come to the throne of grace. You’re coming to the Father; He un­derstands. You are the object of His love, the object of His grace. Why don’t you come and let Him meet your present need right now. And come with confi­dence. And when you come with confidence, you have all the mercy and all the grace that you need.

Open up your heart before Him. Remember, He’s your loving Father. Remember, He’s rich in mercy; and remember you are the object of His love and devotion. So come. If you’ve failed Him, tell Him all about it. Be very bold to speak and tell Him about your failures. And as you confess your sins, He will cleanse you. He will forgive you. He’ll bring you back into His own fellowship. Oh, walk today in fellowship, in the intimacy of His fellowship.

My friend, I wish in some way by the Spirit of God through His word, I could bring to you just what Paul is talking about—being brought into the pur­pose of God. I again repeat that verse in Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wis­dom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out, for who hath known the mind of the Lord God or who has been His counselor?” Nobody!

And to think that God should take you and me, creatures of the dust, we who at one time were sin­ners. To think that He should pick you and me up and not only redeem us, but bring us into this rela­tionship, into this closeness with Himself whereby we’re one with Him in His inheritance—children of the living God. We are one with Him in His purpose and can come at any time, having our access in Chr­ist to the very throne of God.

I say again how much we Christians have robbed ourselves of blessing, of power, of usefulness because we get so occupied with ourselves in our own little world, our own little things and our own little programs. We have missed so much of God Himself. I fear that too many of us are more occu­pied with the service of Christ than we are with the person of Christ and more occupied with our own little program instead of being occupied with the great purposes of God. Let us revel in the fact that we’re one with Him in that purpose.

Now, out of this great revelation of God to the Apostle Paul, comes this wonderful prayer for pow­er, for strength, for fellowship.

Verses 14-15

Now, let’s look at this prayer just briefly for a moment. In Ephesians 3:14-15: “For this cause”— because the purpose of God had been made known to Paul and to you and to me through His word, “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,” and then he goes on to make his request.

May I suggest, to whet your appetites for the prayer of Paul, that you go back over the first two chapters, to read and reread and think and meditate upon what we have said about the revelation of the church, the riches of His grace, the riches of His glory, the unsearchable riches of Christ, the riches of His mercy, access into the presence of God, one with Him in His purpose, in His counsel. And then, what do you find?

“For this cause—” because the purpose of God in Christ in the church is going to be consummated and completed in spite of all the attacks of men and hell.

Ephesians 3:14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians 3:15. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

In other words, it produced worship and praise and adoration and thanksgiving. My friend, when you see these truths, do your knees bow before Him? Do you bow your head and bow your heart in the presence of God and thank Him and worship Him? To think that God should pick up you and me and transform us into children of God and that through us He’s going to display His grace and His wisdom through the countless ages of eternity.

To think that you and I can come into His pres­ence and as Revelation 22:4 says, “And they shall see His face.” And when we see Him, we’re going to be just like Him for we shall see Him as He is. Does it drive you to your knees? For this cause, says Paul, I bow my knees unto the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing today if you and I would spend a little time in the presence of God and bow our knees before Him and thank Him for His mercy and rejoice in the riches of His mercy, in the riches of His grace, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Let us magnify Him today in our lives by our words, by our actions, that we might reveal something to our present generation of the wonderful, wonderful grace of God.

Oh, the Lord bless you today, and may you come into His presence with confidence, having access through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Did you ever stop to think of it, that we are His by creation? That we are His by right of redemption?

“Well, Mr. Mitchell, don’t you believe that every person is a member of the family of God?”

No, no. “The whole family in heaven and earth is named.” That doesn’t take everybody in. Galatians 3:26 says, “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” John 1:12 says, “But as many as re­ceived him gave he the power (to them He gives the right) to become the sons of God.” Romans 8:14 says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” 1 John 3:1, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons (children) of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not.”

No, the only ones who are really the children of God are those who have put their trust in Jesus Chr­ist—“To as many as received HIM”—to them God gives the right to become His children, nobody else—not to those born of flesh and blood, but to those born of the Spirit of God, born of God.

You see, again I want to make it very clear to you; there’s no such thing in the scriptures as the common fatherhood of God and the common bro­therhood of man. Jesus didn’t teach that. Jesus didn’t even come to bring that into being. He could say in John 8:44; John 8:42, to the Jews of His day, “You are of your father the devil. If God were your Father, you would believe in me.”

The Apostle John, writing of this in his epistle (3:10), said, “In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil.” In the second chapter of Ephesians, you remember, Paul speaks of those “who were children of wrath like the rest.” No, those who are the children of God are those who have come to God, who have been brought into relation­ship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. And when he speaks here of the “whole family in heaven and earth is named,” he’s talking about the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and everyone who is in Christ. There are a great many in heaven who have been re­deemed by the blood of Christ, and there are a great many on earth who belong to the same Saviour, re­deemed by His precious blood. They’ve been brought into relationship with Christ.

I remember dear Dr. Bach, who at one time, in fact, for many years was the head of the Evangelical Alliance Mission. One day he was in my home, and he put his arm around me and said, “Brother, what did the Apostle Paul mean when he spoke in Ephe­sians, ‘Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named’?”

“Well,” I said, “Brother Bach, I think you’d bet­ter tell me. You’re asking me; but I think you want to tell me, don’t you?”

He kind of smiled and said, “You know, (and by the way, Mr. Bach at that time was seventy-some years of age and was having quite a bit of heart trouble and was very frail) it’s just like this, the family in heaven is saying, ‘Brother Bach, come home;’ and the family on earth is saying, ‘Brother Bach, stay here.’ Now what can a fellow do?”

And I said, “Well, I think you, dear fellow, bet­ter go back and lie down and get some rest.” I always enjoy that because it reveals the fact that there is a family in heaven and a family on earth. We belong to the same family.

Those who have put their trust through past cen­turies, having put their trust in the Saviour, are with their Lord today; that’s the family in heaven. And we on earth who have put our trust in the Saviour, we are part of His family here on earth. And Paul here says,

Ephesians 3:14. I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians 3:15. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

That’s why I say, to those of us who are saved, we are in the family of God; we are His by right of creation, and we are His especially by right of re­demption.

Now note, first, to whom he is praying. So many of God’s people direct their prayers to “Jesus,” say­ing, “Dear Jesus.” He was “Jesus” as He walked this earth. Following the resurrection, our Prince and our Saviour has become the “Lord Jesus.” True, He is our Advocate, our Intercessor, and we may pray to Him as “Lord.” But as you listen, you will find ma­ture believers are praying to “the Father.”

And now we come to the prayer of Paul, starting in Ephesians 3:16, and I’ll take up the very first thing, the first request. You’ll notice, if I might be allowed to do this, in Ephesians 3:16, the first request is that he would according to the riches of his glory be “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.”

The second request is that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.

The third request is that we might be rooted and grounded in love; we might be able to comprehend “what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.”

The fourth request is “that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” And then verse 20 tells us how it’s going to be accomplished.

Verses 14-21

And starting in at verse 14 of chapter 3, and running down to the end of the chapter, we have here before us this second prayer of Paul. You remember in the first chapter, we had his prayer for knowledge, that we might know the purpose of God, that we might know the riches of the glory of His inherit­ance, that we might know what is the hope of His calling, that we might know what is the greatness of His power to usward who believe. That power was manifested in resurrection and exaltation. This is the first chapter, his first prayer.

Now when you come to the third chapter, the second prayer covers the truth of the first three chap­ters. The first prayer in the first chapter covers the question of knowledge of redemption; likewise, when we come to the third chapter, his second prayer is a prayer for strength and fellowship.

Allow me to read it to you, verse 14:

Ephesians 3:14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians 3:15. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

Ephesians 3:16. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Ephesians 3:17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Ephesians 3:18. May be able to comprehend (to lay hold of) with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and the depth, and height;

Ephesians 3:19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Ephesians 3:20. 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,

Ephesians 3:21. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end (or unto the ages of the ages of the ages). Amen.

Verse 16

Now let me again take a little time on this prayer of the Apostle Paul. Just as we took time on the first prayer in chapter one for knowledge, this second prayer of Paul is a prayer for strength and for fellowship. Now in the first request in Ephesians 3:16, he prayed that God “would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.”

Now here is a request for strength. If I may give you a literal rendition there, he prays that we might be made powerfully strong by His Spirit. He wants us to have a life that is energized by the Spirit of God in power. Now the place of this action is in the inner man, the place where we are most weak. And by the way, oh, how we need this strength. As Paul could say, “I strive according to the working of Him who worketh in me mightily.” Where? In the inner man.

You remember in 2 Corinthians 4:7, Paul says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” In 2 Corinthians 10:4, Paul says, “For the wea­pons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” Paul is praying that we might be made powerfully strong by His Spirit in the inner man. And I say that that is the part of our being where we are the most weak, where we need the most strength—in the inner man, not the outward man.

And Paul could say in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eter­nal.”

And the place of action by the Spirit of God, where we need to be made powerfully strong, is in the inner man. God, give us some strong men, men who are strong spiritually. I’m not talking about physical strength but strength to stand in these days when there is so much corruption, when men are spurning the word of God, when men ridicule Christ the Saviour, when intellectual leaders are full of ar­rogance with respect to the person of God. Paul prays that we might be made powerfully strong in the inner man.

My friend, this is what you need; this is what I need. You and I are facing unseen powers. Satan seems to know that his time is very, very short; and we see rebellion all around us in every part of the world. Those foundations, which we thought were strong and stable, are crumbling into the dust and the structures are falling down. Our nation has been pulled to pieces like the rest of the world. Evil men are everywhere in authority; “evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse.”

What do I need? I need to be made powerfully strong. Let me repeat it once more. You go to work, go among your neighbors, go among your friends, and there’s a sneer, an indifference, a coldness, an arrogance manifested; and you feel like pulling into your shell.

May God grant to you and to me that we might be made powerfully strong by His Spirit. Where? In the inner man. This is our weakest part—in the inner man. And yet this is where Christ dwells in the be­liever. And if you let Christ have His way—His will instead of your will, His desires instead of your de­sires, His purpose instead of your purpose—you’ll find yourself made strong, powerfully strong by His Spirit in the inner man. And it’s according to His riches in glory.

I want you to pray today that the Lord may make you powerfully strong in the inner man by His Spirit, according to His riches in glory. Oh, friend, we need this. You and I can’t afford to live a day out of fel­lowship with God. And may you today revel in the fact that we belong to the family of God, and then pray that He will give you His strength in the inner man so you may glory in Him day by day.

And where you think you are the strongest might be your weakest point; and where you are the weak­est, He can make that the strongest. May that be your prayer today.

Now then, it’s “according to the riches of His glory;” and I would like to spend a few moments here on this amazing phrase—that He would grant you His strength in the inner man “according to the riches of His glory.” You remember, we’ve had in chapters one and two, the riches of grace and the riches of mercy. Now in chapter three, we have had the “unsearchable riches of Christ” and here in verse 16, “the riches of glory.” You see, the riches of glory proceed from the throne. The riches of grace proceed from the cross.

May I take a little moment here to contrast these two? Riches of grace is the provision made by God whereby men and women, sinners, can be trans­formed and fitted for the presence of God. It’s ac­cording to the riches of grace that we have forgive­ness; according to the riches of grace we have redemption. You remember in Ephesians 1:7, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

I say, the riches of grace proceed from the cross. This fits me for the presence of God. Now then, the riches of glory proceed from the throne. And Paul here is praying that he may be made po­werfully strong “according to His riches in glory.”

I just trust that today you will be reveling in this fact. The riches of glory are for you—all that Jesus Christ is on the throne of God. Remember four times in Hebrews I read that He sat down on the right hand of God. That means that our Saviour has been given all authority in heaven and in earth. Everything is in His hands; and He’s altogether, completely for you today. He meets your need according to His riches in glory, and you can come right to the throne of grace. And how close is the throne of God to you? How close is the throne of grace to you? Just as close as you can touch it.

The moment you start to pray, the moment you call upon your Saviour for your present need, He hears you. And I love that verse in Psalms 34:17, tell­ing us that the ear of the Lord is open to the cry of the righteous. “The righteous cry, and the Lord hea­reth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.” What a wonderful thing, this. I tell you, it’s a mar­velous thing to revel in the riches of His grace. But it’s also a wonderful thing to revel in the riches of His glory.

Now you trust Him today, won’t you? You think of these few things. The “riches of grace” come from the cross, the “riches of glory” from the throne— riches of grace for my need to stand before God, the riches of glory for anything that I need today from God.

And all the riches of God’s glory are your re­sources for your tests and trials and afflictions. It makes no difference how severe the test, how rough the path, how bad the way seems to be. He’s right there with you. Oh, my Christian friends, there’s never a moment that the Lord ever leaves you.

You say, “But I don’t feel Him.”

Whether you feel Him or whether you don’t feel Him, He has said, “ I will never leave thee, nor for­sake thee.” One of the final words to His disciples on earth were, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” And He not only said that for those eleven apostles; but He says it for all His people, for those who should believe on Him through their word. Right down to the present time there never has been a moment that God has ever left you or me. The trouble is, we get so occupied with passing, temporal things we fail to realize the wonders of God’s grace and God’s glory for us.

I wish in some way I could get this into your own heart. Only the Spirit of God can do it. Please don’t live like a spiritual pauper today. Revel in the wonders of the glories of His grace and the riches of His glory. To be made powerfully strong, according to His riches in glory, there’s no limit to the resources which you have. No limit. So you can say with Paul, “The weapons of our warfare are not car­nal; they’re mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”

You can say with Paul, “I strive according to the working of Him who worketh in me mightily.” Do you ever stop to realize it, that the One who burst the bands of the tomb, the One who put away your sins, the One who was exalted, the One who went to the very right hand of God to be given all authority, all authority in heaven and earth, is for you—He’s for you.

Do you ever stop to realize that when our Sa­viour went back to heaven, the very angelic hosts cried out, “Who is this? Open up ye everlasting doors and let the King of Glory come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty in bat­tle.” The Lord of Hosts is His name; the Lord of Hosts is for you; the King of Glory is for you to be made strong according to His riches in glory.

Oh, that we Christians would know something of the riches of the glory. My, my! When I think of how most of us just putter along. We strive and we set our wills and we set our jaws, and we’re going to do this and we’re going to do that; and first thing we know, we’re in failure. We’re in defeat. Why? Because we’re trusting ourselves.

Listen, the riches of grace fit you for God’s presence. That’s a cause for glory, that’s a cause for worship, that’s a cause for praise and thanksgiving. All that God is, all that Christ is today as eternal sovereign God is for you. He’s interested in you—in you.

I remember a fellow saying to me one time, “Why, Mr. Mitchell, you talk as if the Lord really takes care of you personally.”

I said, “Of course He does.”

Listen, you mean more to Him than the whole material universe put together. Didn’t Jesus say, “The very hairs of your head are numbered?” Didn’t He say, “Two sparrows are sold for a farthing, and yet not one of them falls to the ground without my heavenly Father knowing all about it? Are you not worth more than many sparrows?”

My friend, listen, you mean so much to God that Jesus gave His life for you to put away your sins. And on the ground of this wonderful, match­less, finished work of Christ, on the ground of the grace of God, He brings you into the presence of the God of glory, righteous, accepted, a child of God, a joint heir with Christ. Do you have needs today? “My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory.” This is what I want to get over to you.

Verse 17

Now we come to the second request, which is in verse 17; and he prays,

3:17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.

Let me just stop here for a moment.

You know, you say to me, “Why Mr. Mitchell, weren’t these Christians?”

Yes, they were Christians.

“Then why does he pray that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith? Doesn’t Christ dwell in the heart of every believer?”

Yes. Do you remember in John 14:20, our Lord said to His disciples, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” Paul could say to the Corinthian church, the worldly church, a carnal church, in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Don’t you know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the sanctuary of God?” A wonderful thing, this! Every believer is indwelled by the Spirit of God—another marvelous thing.

Then why does He pray that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith?

May I add a little word in here. If I may be a lit­tle technical, the Greek word “to dwell,” that Christ may dwell down in your hearts by faith, is a prayer for intimate fellowship. What Paul is praying for is that the believer may have a full revelation, a full realization of Christ dwelling in his heart.

As I said a moment ago, in John 14:20, he speaks of this. In John 17:23, he speaks of our union with Christ. As Paul could say in Galatians 2:20, “I no longer live, but Christ liveth in me.” Our bodies are actually the sanctuaries of God.

You know, I remember—was it Romans 8:9, “if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” Verse 11, “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Je­sus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

You see, being in Christ is a position; but Christ in us—this is a possession. Paul wants us to realize that Christ actually is living in every believer. And he’s praying that Christ may have complete freedom in our hearts, in our lives, not as a guest, not as a lodger; but he is praying that we will have the full realization of Christ living in us—in other words, that He is enshrined in our heart, in our affections, in our emotions, in our very innermost being. Not just an object of faith (thank God for that), not just a simple doctrine that Christ lives in us, but Paul wants us to have the full realization that our body is the temple of the Spirit of God. He’s praying that you and I may give Jesus Christ His rightful place in our heart.

I remember one time hearing Dr. Harry Ironside speak to this point and I’ll pass it on to you. Dr. Iron-side of our past generation was one of God’s great Bible teachers. And in speaking of the fact of Chr­ist’s dwelling in His people, he said this: “Please re­member that Jesus Christ is living in your life and give Him the run of the house. Don’t let Him have just one room in your house. But give Him the run of the whole house, every facet of your life, socially, religiously, economically, in business, with your neighbors. So that everybody will know that Christ lives in you, give Him the run of the house.”

The reason why we have so much trouble as be­lievers is because we don’t let Him run the house.

For example, he said, somebody is coming down the street and you look out, and you say, “Oh, here comes Mrs. So-and-so.” A neighbor is coming in to see you.

So you say to the Lord, “Lord, why don’t You go back to Your room. Mrs. So-and-so doesn’t like You, and I think it might be well for You, so there’ll be no complications for You, if You go up to Your room until she goes.”

In other words, Christ hasn’t the run of the house. Or it may be your business associate comes to see you, and you say to the Lord, “Lord, will You please go back to Your room because this man has no time for Christianity. He has no time for the gos­pel, no time for You. And I know it will be very em­barrassing if You’re here when he comes.”

Now, you can go on and multiply that and ampl­ify it, but what he’s after is this: Does Jesus Christ have the run of the house? Is the Lord in every facet of your life? Or do you put the Lord into your life on Sunday morning and bar Him out of your life the rest of the week?

As one man said, it’s all right to be a Christian, but please don’t bring your religion into business.

Well, my friend, if you can’t bring Christ into your business, you’d better leave or get rid of your business. And what about your neighbors? What about your friends? Listen, my friend, may I suggest to you that, when Paul is praying that Christ may dwell down in your heart by faith, he wants Him to have complete, intimate, blessed fellowship with you. This is what he wants; this is what he’s praying for, that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith. Again I say, give Him the run of the house. Let Him run your life today.

You know, I’ve often asked people this ques­tion: Do you think that Jesus Christ can run your life better than you can run it? Of course, their answer is always in the affirmative—“Of course, of course. Why, of course, He can run my life better than I can.”

Then why don’t you let Him run it? I ask myself the question: Why don’t I let Christ run my life? Why don’t I yield myself so much to Him that His will and His purpose are the paramount things in my life? Not what I want, but what does He want? Not my will, but His will. You see, let Him have the run of the shop; let Him have the run of the life, that Christ may dwell down in our heart by faith.

Think of it! The righteous, sovereign, eternal God who framed the ages by the word of His mouth, who upholds all things by the word of His power, the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth, is all for you and all for me. We mean that much to Him. Would it not be a wonderful thing, would it not delight His heart and fill you and me with joy and blessing if we today would just put ourselves in His hands and say, “Lord, for today at least, I want you to run my life. Not what I want, dear Lord, but what You want.”

Now some startling things may happen if you really mean business, but are you afraid to let God run your life? Are you afraid of what God might do if you do yield yourself entirely to Him, afraid what God might do with us if we really put ourselves in His hands? He might take something out of our life that we’ve enshrined as an idol—I don’t know—I don’t know. But can we trust the Saviour enough and, just for today, let Him run our life?

Can we pray, “Lord God, what is Your purpose for me today? What is Your will for me today? In sovereign power, You put into my mind and put into my heart the things that I should do and close out the things that You don’t want me to do.”

Can we dare let Him do that? Suppose you and I do that today, won’t you?

Christ wants to run the house, your life and my life. Certainly as the children of God we ought to be able to trust the Lord to run our lives. I’m sure He can run our lives better than we can. When we run our own lives, we run them into the ditch; we get in­to trouble. So, when you and I yield ourselves unre­servedly to Him and ask Him to come and run our lives so that His will and His purpose may be ac­complished in us, we may be amazed at what God will do. It will be a life of joy, of blessing, peace, of power, of usefulness.

Now that does not mean that I won’t have tests. It does not mean that I will be free from affliction. It does not mean that I will not have any sorrow. The common tests of life will still be mine; but, instead of meeting those tests and trials in one’s own strength, we do it in His strength. We do it in fellowship with Him. And I’m positive, absolutely positive, that everything that comes into our life is because God loves us and because He wants to perfect us in His Son.

You see, all eternity is ahead of us and God is fitting us for eternity. We’re all in school down here. Some are still in the abc of spiritual life. Some never get away from the abc. Some have gone farther on in their spiritual maturity. As the Apostle John says, some are fathers and some are young men and some are babes in the faith. Wherever we may be in our growth, we’re all the children of God. We’re all per­fected in Christ on the ground of His grace, and He wants to meet my daily need according to His riches in glory.

What I’m trying to say to you, my friend, is this—we can well afford to let the Saviour take over in our lives. I confess with a great deal of shame how much I have failed God. And I failed God because I trusted Mitchell instead of trusting the Saviour.

Are your faith and my faith big enough to be able to say to the Lord Jesus, “You come and take over full possession.” He is not only indwelling my life. That’s true of all believers. These bodies are members of Christ. These bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. But He wants to come in and glorify Himself in and through us. He wants to work out His purpose and His will in our hearts and lives. And it’s far better for us to let Him do it voluntarily than for the Lord to cause certain things to come into our life so that He might keep us in His will and in His pur­pose.

But be sure of one thing, the purpose of God is going to be fulfilled. The will of God for you and me is going to be fulfilled. And it takes God longer, sometimes, for some of us than it does for others. Suffice it to say, He has a particular place for you in the glory. Remember this. He saved you for a pur­pose. He didn’t save you just to get you to heaven; He’s got a real purpose for your life and my life. But He wants us to enjoy His fellowship and His power down here; so he prays that we might be made strong by His Spirit in the inner man, and he prays that Chr­ist may dwell down in our hearts by faith.

Verses 17-19

Now then, in verses 17 to 19 we have the third request, and he prays that we might comprehend the measureless purpose and grace of God. I’m going to read these verses. The third request:

Ephesians 3:17 b. That ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Ephesians 3:18. May be able to comprehend (to lay hold of) with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

Ephesians 3:19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.

Now, the first request was to pray for strength. The second request in verse 17 was to pray for inti­mate fellowship. And now the third request is that we might comprehend, that we might lay hold of the measureless purpose and grace of God, “that you be­ing rooted and grounded in love.”

Let me just stop here. He did not say, “be rooted and grounded in doctrine.” Now I’m all for doctrine; I’m a stickler for doctrine—oh, yes.

You say, “Well, Mr. Mitchell, I’m not concerned about doctrine.”

Well, you ought to be.

You say, “Well, I’d rather have life than doc­trine.”

Now just a minute, my friend, if you love the Saviour, you must have some doctrine. You may call it by any other name, but doctrine is just plain teach­ing; and what you know about Christ is your doc­trine, is your teaching. You go to church and your pastor teaches you certain things; that’s doctrine. And don’t get this idea as some people have told me, they’ve got no use for doctrine.

“Oh, he’s a doctrinal preacher,” they say.

Well, he ought to be. One of the troubles today is that the believer in Christ has not been taught doc­trine. But doctrine is just plain teaching. The words “teaching” and “doctrine” are the same thing. And here he prays that we might be rooted and grounded in love.

You see, Paul here is not teaching doctrine. Paul is talking about fellowship; he’s talking about the in­timacy of a life in Christ.

Now you say, “Well, that’s doctrine.”

All right, that’s doctrine, but he’s working here not from the thought of a mental knowledge of truth; he’s talking here about experimental knowledge. This is where the Spirit of God comes into our lives and makes the doctrine real to us, makes the teaching a living reality. This is what He wants. Too many Christians are sadly in lack of doctrine. I say this very bluntly, my friend. Too many of God’s people have never been taught.

A pastor was talking to me the other day, and he said, “You know, I’m having quite a problem with my people. We’ve got so much trouble among the assembly.”

“Well,” I said, “you know, well-fed sheep never fight. Did you hear what I said? Well-fed sheep nev­er fight. And instead of being negative in your minis­try, sir, I would exhort you to be positive in your ministry; feed the flock of God. This was the exhor­tation of Paul to the Ephesian elders on the shore at Miletus in Acts 20:1-38. ‘Feed the flock of God over the which he has made you overseers.’ And when the people of God are fed doctrine, when they’re estab­lished in the teaching or the doctrines of the church, they don’t fight.”

You see, our problem today is that too many of God’s people have never been taught the scriptures. Now I’m taking the time to just mention this. But Paul here is talking about being rooted and grounded in love. God is love; and when we get this basic, fundamental grace into our hearts and lives that we are to be rooted and grounded in love, then there will be a manifestation of the character and heart of God in and through you. This is what God wants.

And I would plead with your heart today to be rooted and grounded in love. You see, this is a relationship. When Christ dwells down in your heart byfaith and has the run of the house, then you’ll begin to learn something of being rooted and grounded in love.

Now it’s wonderful to be rooted and grounded in love, but it also is wonderful to be rooted and grounded in doctrine, in teaching. We need to feed on the Word of God and then to pray that the Word of God will be made real to us. God sees my faith, but men experience my love. And the closer I walk with God, the more the manifestation of His love will be in my life. Remember that and read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 on this question of love.

As we have been studying, the third request runs from verse 17 down through part of 19. May I read those verses again? Ephesians 3:17-19,

Ephesians 3:17. That ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Ephesians 3:18. May be able to comprehend (or to lay hold of) with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

Ephesians 3:19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.

In the third request Paul prays that we might comprehend the measureless purpose and grace of God and, as we were saying, that you would be rooted and grounded in love. It’s the love of God that has made possible the marvelous revelation of these first three chapters. Love is the fundamental grace that God has given to His people and rightly so be­cause, you remember, God is love. The last revelation of God in the Bible is that He is love. You find this 1 John 4:8; 1 John 4:16.

That’s why I say, the very fundamental grace is love. And this is the great need today. One of the greatest needs among God’s people is love one for another. And it’s this want of love that reveals the fact that we are not real disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You remember, our Lord said this in John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” I recognize that in certain quarters, ecclesiastical quarters, they have preached love to the exclusion of truth. But love never compromises the truth; love never com­promises, period. Truth can never be compromised. His Name is truth. Jesus Christ Himself says, “I am the Truth.” And though the very fundamental grace is love, it never compromises the truth. And He says, “Thy Word is Truth.”

I say Paul is dealing here with the experimental side of truth. We are to be rooted and grounded in doctrine, but also in love. And one is a complement of the other. The more I know the truth, the more there should be the manifestation of love. God sees my faith in the truth, but men experience my love.

And you know, it’s a sad thing. I’ve met Chris­tians, and I’m going to say this very bluntly, I have met Christians who boast about their knowledge of the truth but manifest no love. Sometimes we hear men preaching the truth, but they’re like an icicle, like an iceberg. They are cold. The great need today is for us to be grounded in love.

I have seen some people, too, who boast about their spiritual experiences and I’m not opposed to that; but I’d like to see a little more love evident. Isn’t it folly for me or for you to boast about our knowledge of Christ or some great spiritual expe­rience we’ve had if there’s no love manifested?

And I say again, the want of love for each other is an outward manifestation, an outward evidence that we’re not the disciples of the Son of God. Oh, I plead with your heart to be rooted and grounded in love.

Now, remember again what I’m saying; we must be rooted and grounded in truth, in the doctrines of the church. But the more I claim to be rooted and grounded in doctrine, the more evidence there should be of the love of God in my life. This is what I’m pleading for. And many, many people have been de­tracted from knowing Christ, from coming to Christ, because of the lack of love in the hearts and lives of His people.

Oh, it’s so easy to become abrupt and cold and unlovely in the things we say and the things we do. May the Lord forgive every one of us. God grant that you and I shall so walk before the Saviour that Christ is given His rightful place in our affection, in our de­votion, in our living, and in our fellowship. Then there will be more and more of the manifestation of love. We’ll be rooted and grounded in love.

Verse 18

Now, then, shall we continue. In verse 18 he prays, being rooted and grounded in love that we “may be able to lay hold of the breadth, the length, the depth and the height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.”

Now I’m going to say something here, and I want to be careful what I’m saying here, because I know that you read commentaries and hear preachers and they say that the length, and breadth, and depth, and height, is of the love of God.

Now listen, there are no measurements to the love of God. His love is boundless. Then what is Paul talking about? Now just like in chapter one, his prayer for knowledge had reference to what he had just taught with respect to the Father and the Son and the Spirit in our redemption and that we might know the call of God and the purpose of God and the pow­er of God.

But now when we come to chapter 3, he has been dealing not only with redemption in chapter one, but he’s been also dealing with the marvelous truth of reconciliation in chapter two. And in the end of chapter one and chapter three he has been dealing with the revelation of the mystery of the church, the body of Christ, made up of Jews and Gentiles, all having the same relationship, the same standing and being fellow-heirs of the same body. And because of the marvelous revelation of that, the purpose of God in the church, I maintain that this is what He is talk­ing about.

You may disagree with me on this and it’s all right. But he’s given us here four dimensions—the breadth, the length, the depth, and the height. For what? If the love of God is measureless, how can you measure the love of an omnipotent God? But I can measure His purpose and counsel with respect to the church. And this is what He’s been dealing with, the four dimensions of His purpose and grace which is found in these three chapters.

Now I’m going to ask you to do something for me. I’m going to ask you to take chapters one, two, and three and read them through and find out what is the breadth of the purpose of God and the length and the depth and the height. And when you find that, he adds this: “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth all knowledge (the understanding of men).”

I want you to mark what it is. Somewhere in the first three chapters you’ve got the breadth of His purpose, and then you’ve got the length, and then you’ve got the depth, and then you’ve got the height of His purpose in His people, His purpose in taking a people and redeeming them and fitting them for His presence that they might revel in the riches of His grace and in the riches of His glory.

Now you hunt them up, will you? And you’ll find some in the first chapter, you’ll find some in the second chapter. You’ll find the breadth, and the length, and the height, and the depth. And I hope you’ll find just what I have found.

Now remember, he’s praying that we might lay hold of the measureless purpose and grace of God, being rooted and grounded in love, the fundamental grace. He wants us also to lay hold of these four di­mensions of His purpose and grace. Will you find them? In chapter one and in chapter two. And the Lord make it precious to you.

Now don’t leave all the digging to me—you do some digging. And I wonder if your answer, what you find, will be what I have found.

Let’s see what it is. Did you find it? First of all, the purpose of God in its breadth. In chapter 2, He took Jew and Gentile and He’s made them one in Christ; this is the purpose of God. This was the mys­tery of chapter three; He takes Jews and Gentiles with nobody left out. It’s broad enough in the pur­pose of God to take anybody, Jew and Gentile, and make them one in Christ.

My friend, it’s broad enough to take anybody in. When a person comes to me and says, “I’ve passed the redemption point. I’m beyond being saved.”

No, you are not. The grace of God, my friend, is broad enough to take in any man, wherever you find him, whether Jew or Gentile. The Jews who have turned away from their Saviour and crucified Him? Yes, the grace of God can reach them. One only needs to read the first few chapters of Acts to realize that God did that. In fact, the Apostle Peter in chap­ter two and chapter four of Acts offered salvation to those who crucified Christ.

“I know you did it ignorantly,” he said, “but you crucified the Lord of glory.”

And you remember, in chapter 2 they said, “Men and brethren, what in the world can we do?” The grace of God reaches out to Jews. And what about Gentiles? Gentiles in their sin, in their idola­try? As Paul could say to the Thessalonian church in 1 Thessalonians 1:9, “You have turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven.”

The grace of God can reach anybody. It’s broad enough to take in Jew and Gentile. I can say to any man, irrespective of his condition, the grace of God can reach you. Is it broad enough? Yes, it was broad enough to take me in, bless His name, and broad enough to take you in. And if you have accepted the Saviour, you thank Him for His grace. It’s broad enough in the purpose of God to bring you into the body of Christ and make you a joint heir with Him, a fellow-heir with Jew and Gentile. Wonderful thing! It’s broad enough to bring you in and make you one with all the saints.

Now the second thing is the length of it. What is the length of the purpose of God? Now, have you got your Bibles? In chapter one, Ephesians 1:4, it says that He chose us before the foundation of the world. Now you go to Ephesians 2:7, “That in the ages to come He might show forth the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Is that long enough for you? He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that in the ages to come the very purpose of God was already worked out before there ever was a world. Before the foundation of the world, He chose that everyone who should accept His Son would be holy and without blame.

And then in Ephesians 2:7, in the ages to come He’s going to show forth the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us by Christ Je­sus. He saw us in past ages. He sees us in the ages to come, showing forth the riches of His grace.

Then, when you go to chapter three, verses Ephesians 3:9-10, He’s going to teach all created intelligences the wonderful wisdom of God. Is this long enough? He prays we may comprehend the length of the purpose and grace of God who can choose men away back in eternity to be holy and without blemish, and then He sees us in the ages to come, showing forth His grace and the revelation of His will.

I tell you, my friend, this just gets into my heart. Why should you and I be worry warts? Why should you and I worry about the next ten days or the next ten minutes or the next ten years? If you have put your trust in the Saviour, there’s no room for worry. He saw you in past ages; He chose you to be holy and without blame. He sees you in the ages to come, showing forth the riches of His grace and the wonders of His wisdom. Who’s He talking about? Those who put their trust in the Saviour.

Now, it doesn’t say in Ephesians 1:4 that He chose you to be saved. Don’t jump to the conclusion that this is—what shall I say—fatalism? If I’m elected to be saved, I’m going to be saved; and if I’m not elected to be saved, I’m not going to be saved.

You don’t find that in your Bible. He’s talking to those who put their trust in Christ. He’s informing them that when God, way back in eternity, purposed a church made up of Jews and Gentiles, He purposed that every one who accepted His Son would be holy and without blame.

And then He chose them to be the revelation of His grace and His wisdom in the ages to come. God is not playing with this thing; God had a purpose. Could I couple with that a verse from the Psalms and then Hebrews chapter ten. In the 40th Psalm, verses 6-8, “In the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God.”

You find the same thing repeated in Hebrews 10:7, “In the volume of the book it is written of me, I came to do thy will, O God.” The purpose of God in redemption was chosen and was worked out before there ever was a world. If I might say it, the world was made that you and I might be born and might put our trust in the Saviour and be made holy and without blame through the precious blood of Christ and fitted for eternal glory.

I tell you, what a Saviour this is! What a purpose this is! You and I today ought to be filled with the revelation of this wonderful manifestation of His purpose and grace. Let us thank Him and give our life to Him. And may this be a day when you and I shall revel in this amazing fact that the gospel of the grace of God is sufficient to take anybody in, Jew or Gentile. It’s broad enough to take us in. And bless God for the length of it way back in eternity and in the ages to come. Can you make it any longer than that? From eternity to eternity!

Verses 18-21

There are two more yet. What is the depth? And what is the height? I suggest you read chapter two for they are found in chapter two. Do a little searching. Oh, today, won’t you revel in His grace and revel in His glory?

We’re dealing now with verse 18. He prays we

Ephesians 3:18. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

Ephesians 3:19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.

Did you find the depth? Well, look at the first verse of chapter 2, the first three verses, “You hath He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins.” You were children of wrath like the rest. You were controlled by the forces of hell. You had your living and your thinking in the lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the mind, born in sin, dead in trespasses and sins.

How much farther down can you go? How far down did God stoop to pick you and me up? We were dead in trespasses and sins. We were without life, without hope, without Christ, without God. We were afar off. We were Gentiles having nothing. How far down did God reach to pick you and me up? We were dead in sins, unrighteous, unholy, rebels, renegades, given up to sin, to uncleanness, with vile affections, with a reprobate mind, unrighteous. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We were fit for hell, dead in sins, rebels.

What did He do? He made us alive together, Jew and Gentile. He made us alive together in Christ. My friend, the purpose of God, the grace of God, not only is long, eternity to eternity, but it reaches right down to where we were. How much farther down can you go? The depths. He went right down into the bowels of death to save you and me.

You realize that Jesus Christ became an accursed thing, “Cursed is everyone who hangeth on a tree.” He went down to the depths. He tasted death. He could cry out, “My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” When He bore your sins, when He took your place and my place, He went right down to the depths. There was no bottom to reach you, to reach me.

How far down is man? I don’t care how far down he is under the grace and purpose of God, our Saviour went right down to the very depths. You and I who were dead in trespasses and sins, He’s made us alive together with Christ. Is that deep enough?

What about the height? I read here in chapter two, “He raised us up together and made us sit to­gether in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.” How much higher can you go? “In the heavenlies in Christ.”

My friend, you can’t go any higher. He stooped to the lowest to bring us up to the highest. This is the purpose of God in Ephesians. He chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy; in the ages to come He sees us. The breadth of it? He takes in Jew and Gentile, whoever you are, whatever you are; and the grace of God can reach you wherever you are. It’s for everybody. How deep did He go to reach us? We were dead in trespasses and sins and He went to the depths to bring us up. And then He raised us up, Jew and Gentile together, and seated us together in the heavenlies in Christ. How much higher can you go to the very throne of God. We are accepted in the Beloved, standing in the presence of God just like His Son.

Paul is praying here we might know what is the breadth, what is the length, what is the depth and the height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. Paul is praying.

Don’t you think we should pray, too? That we should lay hold of these things, to be rooted and grounded in love, this fundamental grace? And then, to know the four dimensions of His purpose and His grace for you and for me, for everyone. And then af­ter that, I’m to know the love of Christ which passeth all understanding, all knowledge.

I’m going to read again from verse 17, the middle of the verse to the end of the chapter. He writes,

Ephesians 3:17. That ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Ephesians 3:18. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

Ephesians 3:19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might filled with all the fulness of God.

Ephesians 3:20. 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,

Ephesians 3:21. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end (unto the ages of the ages of the ages). Amen.

Now we’ve been dealing, first of all, with Paul’s prayer for strength in verse 16, to be streng­thened according to His riches in glory. And then in verse 17, he prayed for the intimate fellowship of Christ, that Christ may dwell down in our hearts by faith. And then in verses 17 to 19, he prays that eve­ryone of us might be able to comprehend, to lay hold of the measureless purpose and grace of God.

The breadth would be Jew and Gentile, and the length from eternity to eternity, the depth would be He quickened us who were dead in trespasses and sins, and then the height would be He raised us up and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.

Now Paul adds one further thing. He prays that we might know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, the immeasurable love of Christ. And again I say, the love of Christ is immeasurable. And I just love to think of this—it baffles all thought and description when you think of the love of our Sa­viour.

You remember in 1 John 3:1, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God.” In John 13:1, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” In Jeremiah 31:3, “Behold I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” No wonder Paul could say in 2 Corinthians 5:14, “The love of Christ constraineth us (overmasters me).” And one could go along dealing with the im­measurable love of God.

Would to God, and I say this reverently, would, indeed, that we might experience what Paul said, that the love of Christ overmastered him, that we who were dead in sins could be called the children of God and that through eternal ages He’s going to show forth the riches of His grace and the wonders of His wisdom to all created intelligences. Even the holy angels of God have learned the grace of God and the wisdom of God through His people. I say it’s beyond all human comprehension. And to know the love of Christ that passes all understanding.

Eternity will be too short for us to realize to the full the marvelous, marvelous love of God. I tell you, my friend, it’s beyond all comprehension. Why should God save you and me? Why indeed? It is nothing else but His love. God couldn’t save us apart from love. This is the fundamental grace manifested in the very character of God. God is righteous; God is holy, but He’s also love.

One is very much tempted again to go over these wonderful verses. I’ll leave it with you. It’s beyond—it baffles all thought, it baffles all descrip­tion, it baffles all research when you think of the love of God for His people. It is the measureless love of God. And how glad I am that all through eternity you and I are going to experience more and more and more of the blessed love of God.

Now he makes the final prayer, the final re­quest in verse 19, “That ye might be filled unto all (can I make the change in that word there) the full­ness of God.” All the fullness of God. Do you re­member Isaiah 66:1-24, “The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where will you build a house where I may find my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made . . . but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite (humble) spirit (heart).” God wants that we might be filled un­to all the fullness of God.

Personally, I’m of the persuasion that He’s talk­ing about a life here that is absolutely dominated by the Spirit of God. You remember in Colossians 2:9-10. “In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” and you are filled full in Him. And here is a position. In Colossians 1:19, “It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.” In John 1:17, “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Verse 16, “And of His full­ness have all we received.” Here is the ultimate of a Spirit-filled life, where God who indwells us will fill us; and Paul prays that we might be filled unto all the fullness of God.

There’s a certain sense in which we are filled unto all the fullness of God in our completeness in Christ. But this is a position. He’s asking here for the realization of it in our own hearts and minds. I repeat it again. Oh, that we Christians might be able to understand something of the purpose of God through His people and be made to realize that God wants us to enjoy that now, not to wait until we get to heaven, but to enjoy it now.

Now the benediction. He’s praying that this prayer might be realized in our lives. We think about being strengthened with His might. We talk about Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, being rooted and grounded in love and being able to comprehend all these things—to know the love of Christ which passes all knowledge, to be filled unto all the fullness of God.

You say, “How in the world can that be accom­plished? How can that be realized?”

Now his answer, “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.” Oh, the ability of God. Now unto Him that is able to work out what is already planned. Having chosen us, He will keep us. Having blessed us, He will succor us. And He can perform all our requests, according to the power that worketh in us.

You see, the instrument is by the Spirit of God who indwells us. The purpose of God is that He will be glorified through the church of Christ throughout eternity. And He’s going to be able to perform it.

I tell you, I wish in some way I could impress upon your hearts to learn something of the ability of God. Now unto Him that is able—and you’ll notice that Paul runs out of words. He is able to do exceed­ing abundantly above all that we ask or even think.

And how does He do it? According to the power of—it’s limited to the power of the Spirit of God who lives in us. Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout the ages of the ages of the ages. Time would fail me to go into that.

My, what a benediction; that the one who planned our redemption, who wrought it out, is going to complete it. He has the ability. Remember 2Ti­ 1:12? “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” In Hebrews 2:18, He is able to succor us. In Hebrews 4:4-16 of Hebrews, He’s able to make all grace abound toward us. He’s able to save us to the uttermost. He’s able, as Jude says, to keep us from falling. He’s able— please never question or doubt the ability of God to do what He has purposed to do. And may I say, do not question the ability of God to meet your needs today.

Now unto Him, unto Him who is able to do ex­ceeding abundantly above all that we ask or even think. And the ability of God is to be done by the Spirit in you today.

I tell you, my friend, God’s got a purpose for you, for every believer, even the weakest believer. He’s got a distinct purpose for you and in you; and that purpose, my friend, I’m certain of one thing, that purpose is going to be accomplished. He may lead you in differing ways to get there. He may send af­fliction. He may send severe testing. I don’t know how God will do it. But I know one thing—His purpose for you individually is going to be wrought out. And your joy and your peace, your satisfaction come when you cooperate with God in that purpose. He’s able to do it by the Spirit of God who indwells you.

Now you read Ephesians 3:20 and make it per­sonal for you today—today. He is able to do what He wants to do which will give you joy and peace and satisfaction.

My friends! My friends! I tell you, it’s a won­derful thing to be a Christian. It’s a wonderful thing to belong to the Saviour.

Before I start in on chapter 4, where we have the walk of the believer in Christ, I would like to review for a second or two these first three chapters.

You remember in the first chapter we have the marvelous work of God in redemption. We have the work of the Father who blessed us and chose us and adopted us and accepted us in the Beloved. And then we have the work of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who redeemed us, who forgave us our sins, who brought us into fellowship with Himself and His purpose, who gives to us an eternal inheritance. And then we had the work of the Spirit in verses 13 and 14, where the Spirit of God seals us until the day of redemption. I say, what a marvelous plan this is—the redemption. The Father chooses us and the Son pays for us and the Spirit possesses the possession born. In other words, we belong to Him.

And, my friend, it’s a wonderful thing, having put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Saviour, God guarantees that salvation, not only for time but for eternity. And that is followed by the prayer of the Apostle Paul for knowledge. To know the call of God, to know the purpose of God, and to know the power of God is Paul’s prayer in the first chapter.

Then we came to chapter two, and this chapter has to do with reconciliation. The only place where you’ll find Jew and Gentile reconciled together is in Christ. This chapter begins with what we were in time past. We were dead in trespasses and sins. We were controlled by the prince of the power of the air. We were children of wrath like the rest; and we were without Christ, without hope. We were without God, without covenants; we were afar off. And our life, of course, paralleled our position. We walked in the de­sires and lusts of the flesh and of the mind.

In other words, we were without Christ. And then you have the marvelous revelation of the grace of God, that God is rich in mercy and great in love and that we become His workmanship. Think of it! He takes those who are dead in sins and begins a work in their hearts and their lives, which He’ll not finish until we stand in His presence just like His Son.

Christian friend, did you ever stop to think of it, that when God manifested His mercy to you and re­deemed you, He had a purpose; and that purpose is that you shall stand in the presence of God, looking just like His Son. And all the tests and trials of life through which we go are part of God’s purpose in fitting us for His presence. And when God gets through with us, I’ll tell you, we’re going to be just like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, again I repeat what I have said before. Please don’t judge other Christians until God gets through with them. And when God gets through with them and when God gets through with you, you’ll be perfected forever and be just like His Son. This is what the Apostle John said, this is what the Apostle Peter said, this is what the Apostle Paul said. Paul says, “We shall be conformed to the image of His Son.” And John declares that when we see Him, we’ll be just like Him. Quoting from Romans 8:29 and 1 John 3:2.

Now we come to chapter three. And when we come to chapter three, we have the revelation of the church, the body of Christ—something that was hid­den in God from past ages.

The Old Testament says to you nothing of the church. This is a new revelation, given to the Apostle Paul to pass on to you and to me. In fact, the third chapter of Ephesians informs us that this is a mystery hidden in God from past ages and now made manif­est through His New Testament apostles and proph­ets that the Jew and the Gentile shall be fellow heirs of the same body, partakers of His promise in Christ, having the same relationship, the same fellowship and the same standing in God, in Christ.

What a wonderful thing, this, that through this church, God is going to display His wisdom to all created intelligences in eternity come. God is going to take you and me who love the Saviour, and we shall display His grace and display His wisdom to all created intelligences throughout all eternity.

And the third chapter ends with the prayer of the Apostle Paul. In chapter one, his prayer was for knowledge; in chapter three, his prayer is for strength and for fellowship “to be made strong by His Spirit in the inner man.”

Verse 20

Now, let’s come to the end of chapter three, and then we’ll begin in chapter four with the walk of the believer. How is God going to do all this?

Ephesians 3:20. 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.

How can these wonderful things which Paul has been praying for be realized in our lives? Well, God is the one who is going to do it. God is the one who has purposed it, and God is the one who is going to carry it out. “Now unto Him”—the One who planned and wrought it out will do it.

Will you mark His ability. In Ephesians 1:4, “He chose us to be holy” and He’s going to keep us. 2 Timothy 1:12 says, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him (to guard the deposit) until that day.” In Ephesians 1:3, He has blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places, and now He succors us day by day as He­brews 2:18 says, “He is able to succor them that are tested.”

In Hebrews 4:1-16, “Let us come to the throne of grace and obtain mercy and find grace to help in every time of need.” Hebrews 7:25, “He is able to save perfectly all those who come unto God by Him.” And in Judges 1:24, “He is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding great joy.”

And now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. He can perform everything we ask or even think. But mark you, He does it according to the power that worketh in us. That is, He does it according to the Spirit of God who indwells the believer. And in the last verse, you have the purpose of it all: “Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.”

You remember this division starts in chapter one, “That we might be to the praise of His glory,” unto the praise of His glory—over and over again. And now He ends this division, “Unto Him be glory in the church of Christ Jesus throughout the ages of the ages.” In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be glorified through the church throughout all eternity. And this is the ultimate purpose of all redemption; this is the purpose of God, that His Son should be glorified with the glory of God throughout all eternity.

And the marvelous thing is, you and I are going to share with Him in that. As John 17:22 says, “And the glory which Thou hast given me, I have given them.” My, what a wonderful thing. Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we appear with Him in glory.” The ultimate purpose of it all is the glory of Christ; and marvel of marvels, you and I will share with Him in that glory.

And the Lord wonderfully bless you today for His name’s sake.

Ephesians 4:1-6

I would like to read the first few verses in the book of Ephesians, chapter 4.

Ephesians 4:1. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

Ephesians 4:2. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffer­ing, forbearing one another in love;

Ephesians 4:3. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:4. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

Ephesians 4:5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Ephesians 4:6. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Supposing I stop right there for a few mo­ments.

We have just finished the first three chapters on our position in Christ, and all of us love the marvel­ous truths that have been given us there. But this brings a responsibility. In chapters 1 to 3, we had what God is going to do for us; now starting at chap­ter 4, we have what we can do for God. Paul has just been talking about our being made powerfully strong by His Spirit in the inner man. He’s been talking about our being able to comprehend with all the saints the wonderful length and breadth and height and depth of the purpose and grace of God. He prays that we might be filled unto all the fullness of God, recognizing that He’s able to do all these things for us and through us.

But what does God expect of us? Our walk should correspond to our position. You see, we are a heavenly people. In chapter 2 we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies; and, if we are a heavenly people, we ought to have a heavenly walk. You remember in Colossians 2:6, we read, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” This is what He wants.

Now in chapter 4 down through chapter 6:9 we have the details of our walk in Christ—how I as a Christian should walk on the earth. And my walk, I repeat it, should correspond with my posi­tion. If I’m a child of one who is God, then I ought to walk and live as a child of God.

So in chapters 4:1 through 6:9 we are to walk in the unity of the Spirit; we are to walk in a new crea­tion. In chapter 5, we are to walk in love; we are to walk in light; we are to walk in wisdom; and we are to walk in submission. You see, I’m giving you a run-down from chapter 4:1 through 6:9.