That You May Be Filled with All the Fullness of God | Susan Heck

Good evening, ladies. What a joy to be with you again. Uh the three speakers that are here this weekend. We just are on the tales of the Shepherd's Wives Conference last week in Louisville, Kentucky, where we had about 300 women attend. And if you have an opportunity, I would encourage you. All the messages are up on shepherdswives.com. Our theme this year was being equipped for ministry. And uh it's not just for pastor's wives. There was many women from other uh deacons wives, um elders wives, and even just common folk like all of us, right? And anyway, it was a great time together. And so I would encourage you uh to listen to those messages. A lot of them were very helpful on uh counseling and peacemaking and uh it was just a joy. So if we have bags under our eyes, we're still recovering from that and here we are to be rooted and grounded. Um I had a lady that worked side by side with me in women's ministry in my husband, my first husband planted three churches. And in his second church plant, I was very blessed to have a woman work side by side with we me in ministry. and she'd always say, "Susan, you need to grab a root and growl." I was like, "That's really weird. Grab a root and growl." And uh but I was looking at the the conference uh in theme is rooted and grounded. So, I thought, "Well, ladies, we need to grab that root and be grounded." And have you looked to see what you're going to be learning this weekend? uh being grounded by being filled with the fullness of God, being grounded by abiding in him, serving one another, rejoicing in your trials, forgiving one another, following his example, and being fruitful. Now, that's quite an itinerary, isn't it? And so, I pray that the Lord will give you uh strength, mental strength, and physical stamina. That's a lot of listening. And uh but I pray that when you leave here, you can grab a root and get grounded. not growl. Don't growl, please. If you do, growl at Kim or Andrea, but don't growl at me. So [clears throat] anyway, but for tonight, I have been asked to speak on uh being filled with all the fullness of God. Being filled with all the fullness of God. And you may have your Bible already open to the text that Karen read. And that is the one we'll be looking at. This actually was my husband's favorite portion of scripture. and uh my first husband. Uh next month it will be 5 years since my first husband went to be with the Lord, the one he loved and served faithfully for 50 years. And at his memorial service, this text was preached uh several years before the Lord took him home. We were uh having a meal with Phil Johnson. Phil Johnson was my husband's roommate at Moody Bible Institute and he introduced me and my husband, my first husband. And so they'd been friends throughout the years. And Doug said to Phil a couple years before he knew the he didn't know the Lord was going to take him home, but he said, "Phil, now when I die, I [clears throat] want you to preach this text, the one I'm doing tonight." And uh he said, "I want you to do my funeral." And Phil responded with Doug, I would come from anywhere to put you under the ground. And uh so anyway, they they could do that. They were good friends and joke with one another. So we do want to look at this a beautiful portion of scripture. It's actually Paul's second prayer uh from Ephesians. And as I said, this was my first husband's favorite portion. And so we are going to find in this second prayer those words being filled with the fullness of God. Being filled with the fullness of God. And so what does that mean? What does it mean? Well, let's read the text together. Even though Karen read it once, uh that's how we learn. Light upon line, precept upon precept. And so it never hurts to read the same portion twice, right? So let's read it again and then we will go with what we have here for this evening. Notice what Paul writes in Ephesians 3:12. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. Therefore, I ask you that you do not lose heart at my tribulation, for which is your glory. For this reason I bow my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the wet the width excuse me the length the depth the height to know the love of Christ which surpasses all understanding that you and here's the phrase you might be filled with the fullness of God now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us to him be the glory in the church by excuse me in the church by Jesus Christ to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Now, you have an outline there in your little booklet. We're going to be looking at the privilege of prayer, the posture of prayer, the petitions of prayer, and the praise of prayer. First of all, let's look at the privilege. The privilege of prayer. And ladies, this is one of the ways that you can be filled with the fullness of God. Have you ever thought about that? When you think about being filled with something, it's to the brim. And one of the ways that we can be filled with the fullness of God where we want nothing else but Christ alone. Uh we only desire him above anything else is by talking to him. And the way we talk to him is through prayer. He talks to us through his word and we talk to him through prayer. And so ladies, we have a wonderful privilege of praying. And I often talk to women about their greatest spiritual struggles and almost 99% of the time they will tell me their greatest spiritual struggle is prayer. As Elizabeth Elliott says, "We're reluctant to start and delighted to end." And so I would encourage you as we think about being filled with the fullness of God. Ladies, I would encourage you to strengthen your prayer life. Uh that will bring you into close intimacy and communion with the Lord. It is a wonderful privilege. Notice what Paul says here. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. Now, you might be wondering, why is he saying in whom? In whom what? Well, if you look back at verse 11, Paul just mentioned Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, let me say this, my friend. It is only through Jesus that we have boldness and access to the throne. It's not through Mary. I saw on the way here, you know, we're to pray to Mary. I saw some signs along the side of the road. You cannot get access to the father through Mary. Uh the only way to have access is through his son. As Paul would say in another place, seeing that we have a great high priest who has passed from the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast our confidence for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our infirmities. And then he goes on to say, "Let us come boldly to the throne of grace so that we might find help in our time of need." And so, ladies, we have a wonderful privilege that we do not take advantage of. We can come to the father's throne anytime, 24/7, and he is there. Now, when Paul says we have access, he's saying we have admission. We have admission. We're privileged to have access to talk to God. And he says when we come, we're to come with boldness, which means freedom of speech. Freedom of speech when we talk to God. Ladies, have you ever considered this? You know, some people pray all these flowery prayers and they go from Dan to Beersa, but they don't really share what's in their heart. You know, the Lord knows what's in your heart anyway. So why not talk to him? Just just talk to him as you feel. Boldness means we have freedom. This means we speak to him as we would a friend. There's no fear. There's no shame. There's nothing to hide. You can't hide from him anyway. There's nowhere you can go where you can hide from the Lord. You can pretend to say something to him that's not really in your heart and you know he knows you're not being sincere. He knows you're not being truthful about what's in your heart. Ladies, we can come to him openly and freely. Now this doesn't mean we can be free to say anything we please because we still must be reverent when we pray. We are the inferior. He is the superior. We can be free but not flippant. We may speak boldly but we may not speak bossy. Okay. So that's the wonderful act the wonderful privilege we have. But ladies, we can be candid without fear of being ridiculed. Read the Psalms. Do you ever read the Psalms in your prayers? Uh you hear David say things, "Oh, I had wish I wish I had wings like the dove, a dove, and I would fly away and be at rest. I'm just overwhelmed, Lord. I can't take it anymore." And so, we need to be free with him. But we need to be respectful. And notice what Paul says here. We can do all this with confidence through faith in him. This means we can trust fully in him as we come to prayer because of the faith that we have. Ladies, this is the only way we can approach his throne is by faith in him. There is not one person in this room that can approach the throne of grace if you do not have genuine faith. We know from John chapter nine that God does God does not hear sinners. God does not hear sinners. But if any man does his will, him God hears. And so I cannot think of a better way to start this conference than by saying this to you this evening with all respect and humility. If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, prayer will mean nothing to you if you have never bowed the knee to Jesus Christ and made him Lord and Master over your life. Ladies, it's one thing to believe the facts of the gospel that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried. He rose again according to the scriptures. He ascended into heaven. He's now seating at the right hand of the father according to the scriptures. One day he's coming again to judge the living and the dead. And everyone in this in through this room will be judged. Some of you will ascend into heaven, some into the eternal pit of hell, the everlasting fire that never goes out. But ladies, if if you haven't made that core commitment, I want to beseech you, beg you to make Christ your Lord and Savior. Repent of your sins. Turn away from your wickedness and turn to Christ. I was saved and baptized three times, and it wasn't until the age of 30 where God showed me my sinful self. And I repented uh for the first time, repented of my sin, saw myself as a sinner, never saw myself as a sinner before that. saw myself as a sinner. I repented. My life changed. My husband saw the change. My mother saw the change and uh in my life. And so, ladies, uh without knowing the Lord, none of these lessons this weekend will mean anything to you. You won't even be able to comprehend it. The natural man cannot understand spiritual things. And so, I beg you, uh if you want to come to the throne of grace and boldness and freedom, you've got to know the one you're coming to, right? And so I want to make that appeal and there would be any of us here that would love to speak to you if you are not sure where you are going to go when you pass from this life to the next. Well, Paul now moves from writing about the privilege we have and asking God for things in prayer to ask for something else in verse 13. Notice what he says. Therefore, I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you which is your glory. Now, what is he saying the asking here? Well, it could be that he's asking God that the church at Ephesus does not lose heart. Or it could be that he's asking the church at Ephesus not to lose heart. The saints there, Paul had been in prison now five years. Five years he had been in prison. This is one of the prison epistles. And the the saints there at Ephesus were probably losing heart. Is Paul ever going to get out? Are we ever going to see him again? And so they were concerned about his welfare. If you know anything about Roman imprisonment, it wasn't like the prisons here, uh, where you can work out, you know, and you can have a job and have a computer and and buy candy at the canteen and have good food. It wasn't like that at all. It was very dark. It was very dreary. Uh, male and female prisoners were incarcerated together. So, there was a lot of sexual immorality going on. There was very little food, very little water. In fact, they didn't even have toilets. And so, you can imagine the stench that was there. And Paul was chained to two Roman soldiers. It was a very dark cell. In fact, ladies, things were so bad in Roman imprisonment that many prisoners committed suicide. They committed suicide. And a lot of them just asked for a speedy death. Paul spent 25% of his life in a Roman prison. 25% of his life in a Roman prison. And so he's saying he's asking he's saying I I'm asking don't lose heart at my tribulation. I I I know I'm in here but I'm here for what? For you. Because of the gospel's sake. The b the gospel's sake. And they were concerned about Paul's welfare. And he tells him don't lose heart. Don't lose heart. Don't be discouraged. He says in fact the word discouraged means don't be disheartened. Don't be despondent at my tribulation, at my imprisonment. He says, "This is for your glory." You know what he's saying? You know why I'm in prison? Because of you. Because of the gospel, sharing the gospel with you have sent me into prison. Now, ladies, I imagine if any of you tonight were in a place like that, I doubt that's what you'd be doing. You'd probably be writing letters to your friends to tell you to do whatever it takes to get you out of that place, right? And probably pouring out your heart with your tearful story, right? Do you know how bad it is here? I mean, these people, they're uh sexually immoral and there's bugs running all over the place and it stinks to high heavens and and could you please do something to get me out of here. But not Paul. He doesn't complain about his lot in life. He's there for the glory of God and because he shared the gospel. Paul mentions this in another place in second Timothy. Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake. I endure all this for the elect's sake. I do it for the gospel, for God's people. And so Paul is reminding them, I'm in prison for your behalf, for the cause of the gospel. Paul says, don't be discouraged. Be delighted. Be delighted. Don't be discouraged about this. You know, another place, another prison epistle, Paul says, "It is given unto you on the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but to suffer, to suffer for his name." We we don't like suffering, do we? We coil from it. We don't want to suffer for the gospel but not the apostle Paul. He was willing to suffer. Paul now moves to the actual prayer that he prays for them. And as he does, he lets him know the posture he has in prayer. So we move from the the the prayer to the posture in verse 14 and 15. Notice what he writes. For this reason, I bow my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now when Paul says he's bowing his his knees, it means he's bending the knee. And this is un in unusual because most Jews would stand and pray and lift up their hands to heaven when they pray. But Paul says he's bowing his knee, which was a symbol of submission and adoration. DL Moody says the Christian on his knees sees more than the philosopher on his tiptoes. Now, I don't know about you, uh, I can get on my knees. Sometimes it's hard to get up the older I get. But when I do feel very burdened and overwhelmed about something, I usually end up on my knees. And there's something very different about praying on your knees. Have you noticed that than standing or sitting or walking? My first husband's mentor would only read God's word on his knees. In fact, that's how he memorized the entire Bible was on his knees. He felt reading God's word should not be read casually and so he would get on his knees to read the word of God and that's how he memorized it. The psalmist says, "Oh come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker." Now notice this kneeling that Paul is doing. He says it's to the father or before the father which means face to face to the father. Face to face with the father. Ladies, remember it was the father that Jesus told his disciples to pray to. Remember he says, 'Lord, teach us to pray. Even as John taught his disciples to pray, teach us to pray. Remember what Jesus said. And when you pray, say what? Our father. Our father who art in heaven. Well, this father, Paul says, is not only the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but also of the whole family. Look at verse 15. From whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. The same father who Paul has bowed his knee to is also the head of the whole family. Every saint, those who've gone before us, my husband, my son who's there, all those who have died what in the last year. We've lost a lot, haven't we? John MacArthur, Vodie Bachmann, and on and on. The list of people that have gone to heaven, they're all there. What a wonderful thing, ladies. What a fam. Can you not wait to get to heaven? They say today we have 2.2 two billion believers in the world. And I don't know if all those are genuine believers, but can you imagine what a reunion it's going to be? The whole family. The whole family. You might say, "How are we going to get in there?" Well, you'll have to wait. That's a different lesson. But the whole family in heaven and earth, one man helps us here. The father is the creator and lord of all family groupings. Their existence and significance is dependent on him. The whole family in heaven and earth is named. Well, Paul now begins his petitions for the church at Ephesus in verses 16 to 19. And what amazing ones they are. There are five of them. So, let's consider the first request from verse 6. Paul says, I'm praying that God would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man. So the first prayer request for the church at Ephesus is that they would be strengthened in the inner man. Ladies, this is truly an amazing statement that Paul says here because he says it's according How are we strengthened in the inner man? According to his riches. Now ladies, think carefully. I know you've you've eaten and you're some of you have traveled all day, but think of what he's saying. How are you filled to the fullness of God? How are you strengthened in the inner man? It says what? Through his riches. Ladies, his riches are limitless. Have you ever thought about that? For example, I might give you some money, but my money is going to eventually run out. I might give you some of my time, but my time is going to eventually run out. I might give you some of my energy to counsel or disciple you, but you know what? My energy is going to run out. But God's riches never run out. It never runs out. They're endless. That's why he's able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Ladies, think about it. His mercies, his grace, his glory, his answers to our prayers are limitless. Never runs out. Never runs out. This is the awesome God we bow our knees to. Let that sink into your mind this evening. This is the awesome God we bow our knees to. He never gets tired. He never gets weary. He never is not listening. He knows. Well, with that amazing attribute, Paul prays they would be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. Paul is asking God to give them inner divine power and strength that would enable them to carry out their duties, endure their trials, to walk in sanctification to the glory of God to not lose heart. In another place, Paul tells the church at Corenth, "Therefore, we don't lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, the inward man is what? Being renewed each day." And Paul's praying, I'm praying that you'll be strengthened. Don't lose heart. And ladies, this is a message we need for today. Many, many believers are leaving the faith. They're leaving the faith. Beware. Strengthen your inner woman through God's power, through his through his personage, through his word. Don't neglect Bible reading and prayer. Uh that will cause you to be very anemic in your faith. We need to be strengthened in the inner man. Ladies, our bodies are dying daily, but our inner woman should be growing stronger every day. Our bodies are decaying, but your inner woman should be growing. And if you're not growing in that inner woman, you need to ask why. Why? Why am I not filled with the fullness of God? Why is my inner woman not being strengthened? Why am I going through so many doubts? Ladies, we need to go to our knees and we need to beg God to strengthen us through his power. Well, Paul goes on with yet another request in verse 17. He says that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love. The second request then, if you're taking notes, is that Christ would dwell in their hearts. You know what Paul's saying? He's saying, "I'm I'm praying that Christ would settle down and be at home in your heart." Now, you might be wondering, why does Paul pray this if they're believers? I mean, he does in the beginning of the epistle call them saints. He's not talking about salvation. He's not saying, "I'm praying you'll be saved." He's saying,"I pray that you would grow in your nearness to Christ, have an awareness of his lordship in your life. That your heart, he would be at home there, that you would know his presence constantly." One man helps us here in his booklet, My Heart, Christ home. Robert Munger pictures the Christian life as a house through which Jesus goes from room to room. In the library, which is the mind, Jesus finds trash and all sorts of worthless things which he proceeds to throw out and replace with his word. In the dining room of appetite, he finds many sinful desires listed on a worldly menu. In the place of such things as prestige, materialism, and lust, he puts humility, meekness, love, and all the other virtues for which believers are to hunger and thirst for. He goes through the living room of fellowship where he finds many worldly companions, activities, through the workshop where only toys are being made, in the closet where hidden secrets are kept, and on through the entire house. And only when he has cleaned every room in every closet, every corner of sin and foolishness, then he can settle down and be at home in your heart." End of quote. Ladies, is Christ at home in your heart? Is there something that you're trying to conceal? Some secret life dominating sin? Christ will never be at home at your heart. You're either you're either quenching and grieving the spirit or you're walking in the spirit. You can't have it both ways. You've either, many people today have quenched him. The fire is completely out and you can tell it by watching their life. Some people have just grieved him that because there's sin in their life they won't repent of. Ladies, our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are to glorify God in our bodies. We're not to have any hidden secret things. If you want to be filled with the fullness of God, Christ needs to be at home in your body. He needs to be at home there. Feel that he can settle down. Well, the third request is that they would be rooted and grounded in love. Rooted and grounded in love. Paul is praying that our love for God and our love for others would be like the roots that go deep in the earth. It's a love that can't be shaken even in the midst of storms. In fact, both of these words grooted and grounded. Have the idea of being stable, stability, having a foundation. It's like the wise man who builds his house on the rock and the storms of life come and it still stands. But the foolish man, the foolish woman, she builds her house on the on the sand and the rains come and what happens? The house falls. The house falls. Ladies, I hope your foundation is the solid rock. If it is not, you will never be able to go through the chiefest storms in your life. You will never be able to go through those dark times. You will crumble. You will shake. Psalm 112:7 says this, "You're not afraid when evil tidings come because your heart is fixed on the Lord. Nothing can harm you. Nothing can alarm you because you have this foundation. You're rooted. You're grounded. Your foundation is sure. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone of your life. And ladies, if he's not, when the dark trials in your life come, you'll never be able to stand. I've seen many people go, as a pastor's wife now, 47 years, I've seen many people go through dark trials and they start vacating church. They vacate ministry and eventually they vacate their faith. Their foundation was not firm. It wasn't solid. Ladies, we need to build our foundation on the solid rock. Well, with this in mind, Paul goes on to yet another request for the church at Ephesus. Ephesus. He says, "I want you to be able to comprehend with the saints what is the width, the length, the depth, and the height." So, ladies, the fourth request for this church is that they would be able to comprehend with all saints the love of God. Comprehend means I want you to lay hold of it. I want you to understand it. I want you to be able to grasp it and never let it go. In fact, it was used in the biblical sense to refer to the Israelites. They'd capture a city or they'd capture an army. They did not let it go. And it's interesting here. Did you notice Paul uses four dimensions? The width, the length, the depth, and the height. That's not normally used in scripture. Usually only three dimensions are mentioned. Now, no one knows why Paul uses them. When you get to heaven, you can ask him. No one knows why Paul uses four dimensions except he's trying to describe how vast God's love is, how unimaginable, right? It goes in every direction, every distance. It never runs out. Ladies, the love of God is greater far than than tongue or pin can ever tell, right? It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell. The songwriter says we cannot understand the love of God. It's so vast, it's hard to comprehend it. In fact, Paul goes on with this amazing theme of the love of Christ. Notice what he says in verse 19. I want you to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge so that you will be filled with the fullness of God. Ladies, the love of God is not only vast, it passes surpasses knowledge. We We can't understand it. Oh, the depth of the love of God. We just sang. How deep the father's love for us, how vast beyond our measure, that he would send his only son to make a wretch his treasure. Have you thought about that? You know what Paul says in another place? For scarcely will a righteous man will some men die. Right? For scarcely will a righteous man will some men die. But God commendeth his love toward us that while we were yet sinners, he died for us. You know, ladies, think of that. We can't understand this love of God. It goes, Paul says, it goes beyond our understanding. We can't comprehend it. I mean, think about it. When you think that Christ died for you while you were dead in your sins, when you think that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, can you understand that kind of love? I can't. I cannot understand it. Ladies, our sins are many. His mercy is more. Our sins are many. His mercy is more. When you think and you count your sins every day, I mean, they say, you know, if you sin only three times a day, well, in a year, you've committed so many sins. And I think I read, you know, if you live to be 70, you've committed like 76,000 something sins. I don't know, you just add it up. I I don't know about you, but I probably commit more than three a day just right here in the brain, right? I may not outwardly do something, but it's right here. But when you think about it, that is an amazing truth that God's love is beyond our understanding. Why would he love us? Why would he love us? But God commended his love toward us while we were in all that sin. And even today when we sin, he still loves us. He still loves us, right? We confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive us and we have a clean conscience and we move on. Well, Paul gives yet another request for the Ephesian believers. The fifth request is they would be filled with the fullness of God. That was my title that I was given to be filled with the fullness of God. The word actually means to have total dominance. One man says, "A person filled with rage is totally dominated by hatred. A person filled with happiness is totally dominated by joy." To be filled to the fullness of God therefore means to be totally dominated by him with nothing left of yourself or any part of the old man. To be emptied of yourself. Ladies, we need to be filled with the fullness of God. When we are filled with the fullness of God, we will not look anywhere else for anything else. We won't. If you're filled with the fullness of God, you will not look anywhere else. Have you ever been um just like miserably full? I have many times. I mean, where you think that you cannot put one more bite of food in your mouth. In fact, as I was coming down here, I saw my favorite candies out there, Reesei Peanut Butter Cups. But, uh even if I tonight was just so full, I don't think I could eat another bite. You know, a Reesei peanut butter cup wouldn't even sound good. I'm like, I don't want to eat that. Why? Cuz I'm I'm full of food. And even the most delicious thing that I love, the candy Reesei Peanut Butter Cup, I'd say, "Not now. I'm too full." Right? That's how it should be. When we're filled with the fullness of God, we don't have any appetite for anything else, for the things of this world. You know, they become distasteful to us. Why would we want that when we can have that? Why do we nibble at the things of the world? Ladies, I fear today many, many Christian women are nibbling at the things of the world and they've lost their passion for Christ. Social media and other things like that are sucking the devotional life out of women. Everywhere I go, it's sad. It's a sad indictment on Christianity. We've lost our appetite for scripture. We've lost our appetite for holiness. We've lost our appetite for God. We've lost our appetite for sharing the gospel with others because we're so engrossed in really our our phones, right? Let's let's be honest. That's our life. I went out uh for Valentine's Day with my husband, went to a restaurant. We were the only couple talking. Everyone else was on their phones. I mean, couples that were going out to celebrate Valentine's Day. And I was like, "What in the world? This is the one time you should be talking to your spouse, right? Everyone was on their phone. No one was talking to each other. I thought, what a sad culture we have become. But how do you think our Lord feels? How do you think our Lord feels when we would rather spend two to three hours on social media or something else and not spend that time with him? He's jealous for you, my friend. And I fear we are nibbling at the things of this world and we have no appetite for God. And it's showing itself right in our churches in even the pastors that are shephering uh the church of Jesus Christ in my opinion needs to do some repenting, some serious repenting. And so Paul says, I'm praying that you would be filled with the fullness of God. Filled with the fullness of God. Empty yourself. Now, you might be wondering, how in the world can all these requests really be answered? really am I really able to be strengthened in my inner man? How can Christ be at home in my heart? Am I able to really be rooted and grounded in love? Can I possibly comprehend the love of God and be filled with all of his fullness? Can this really happen? Yes. Yes. Paul answers this as he comes to the final portion of his prayer. He answers these questions. He's able to do it. Look at the the praise part of the prayer in verse 20. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us. You know this verse has been taken to out of context to prove all kinds of ridiculous things. But look at the context. He is able to do these things. He's able to answer these requests above what you even ask or think how. According to the power that works in us, ladies, he able to do this. And not just for you, not just for me, but for all the saints around the entire world. And as I said, as of now, there's 2.2 billion believers in the world. So Christ is able to do that in your life, my life, and all the other believers around the world. Ladies, it doesn't mean we muster up some inner strength to do this. It's the power. It's the Holy Spirit, the dynamite power that is working in us to do the unimaginable, right? It's the spirit of God. Paul says in another place, the spirit helps us in our weaknesses. We don't know what we should pray for, but he makes intercessions with groanings that cannot be uttered. Ladies, he is able to do this. As you walk in the spirit and don't fulfill the lust of the flesh, right? The fruit of the spirit is what? love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, self-control, right? And it goes on to say, those that have crucified their flesh, right? They don't they don't walk in the lust of the flesh. We walk in the spirit. These things are possible, my friend, but only by the power of the dear Holy Spirit. Well, Paul ends this great prayer with a praise to the only one who's worthy of praise. To him be the glory in the church by Jesus Christ, to all generations forever and ever. Amen. So, Lady Paul ends with the desire that God be glorified. Not us, not Paul, not even the saints at Ephesus. But God alone receives the glory. God's glory in the church means that we should manifest the glory of God as his bride, the church. And ladies, yet today we look at the church of Jesus Christ. We see very little. We see very little of what Paul is praying here for the church at Ephesus. We don't see people filled with the fullness of God. We don't see uh Christ dwelling at home in their hearts. And ladies, we need to repent and we need to get back to living the life that Christ desires for us. God should be glorified in the church of Jesus Christ. We were talking at dinner tonight about just the the indictment on uh social media and so many times that people will get on there, Christian people will get on there and say nasty, hurtful, ugly things about other believers. We become to where we're biting. We're devouring one another and we're not building one another up in the faith. And so, but ladies, these things are are possible. They're possible as as the church at Ephesus and as you and I live out our lives as an answer to these requests from that Paul is praying. Then ladies, the church and Jesus Christ receives glory forever and ever. And Paul even says, "Amen." And he's not finished with the letter yet. He's only in chapter three. He says, "So be it. Do it. Do it." Well, we've seen the privilege of prayer in verses 12 and 13. My dear sister, do you realize what a privilege that you and I have been granted access to the savior of our soul? We can pray with boldness and frankness. We can come any time. We can talk to him. He's never too busy. He never puts us on hold. He never has to say he has to call us back later. He doesn't, you know, tell you to leave a voicemail. He's always there. What a privilege. Secondly, we've seen Paul's posture in prayer and it's kneeling. When is the last time you got on your knees to pray? Even if you can't get on your knees to pray, some of us can't. When you pray, is your heart bowed in humble submission? Thirdly, we've seen the petitions of Paul's prayer in verses 16 to 19. There's five of them. And by the way, I find it amazing that Paul prays for them and not himself. Not himself at all. Especially considering what he's going through. Being chained to a Roman soldier 24/7 was no small matter. Waiting to see if you're going to be beheaded is not exactly something any of us in this room would relish waiting for. Right? And yet the Apostle Paul uses this time to pray. And he prays not for himself but for them. Wonderful principle to bring out. Ladies, when you're suffering and going through dark trials, get out of yourself. Do something for someone else. It's a great cure for self-pity. But Paul's first request for them is that they would be strengthened in the inner man. How's your inner woman today in the spiritual sense? Are you stronger today spiritually than you were a year ago? If not, why not? Should be. We're changed from glory to glory by the spirit of the Lord. Right? My first husband used to say, "If you'd look at yourself five years from now, you would be intimidated by the woman you become. But if you would look back five years ago, you'd say, "Was I even saved?" We're to be growing, right? Growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second request Paul prays is that Christ would dwell in their hearts. Is Christ at home in your heart? Do you have some hidden secret in a room of your heart that you need to repent of? Can you welcome Christ as a guest in every room of your heart? The third request is that they would be rooted and grounded in love. Do you love God and others no matter what is going on in your life? How does it manifest itself? Is your love strong for God and others even when you are in distressing times? And the fourth request for this church is that they would be able to comprehend with all saints the love of God. Do you think about the love of God very much? How has it changed your life this week? The fifth request is that they would be filled with the fullness of God. Are you full of yourself or are you full of God? Are you nibbling at the things of this world? How is your appetite for God? Do you have an appetite for God? Are you like the deer that pants for the waterbrooks? Are you like that for God? Is your soul thirsty and hungry? Like that newborn baby that Peter talks about in First Peter that desires the the mother's breast so much so that after he's had a little feeding, he wants to come back for more because he's hungry again. Are you that thirsty for God? And fourthly, we saw the praise portion of Paul's prayer in verses 20 and 21. Oh dear sister, our God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever ask and think he can answer all these requests. Do you believe that? Do you really believe that? That you can be filled with the fullness of God. Do you believe that? Do you believe you can be rooted and grounded in love? Have you experienced these things in your life? If so, in what ways? And ladies, he does this in our life on a consistent basis. Not for a momentary pleasure, but for his glory. His glory, not us. For his glory, both now and forever more. Let's pray. Our father in heaven, you are so kind to us. Lord, in our human minds, we cannot grasp your power. It's not even we can't even search it. We've experienced it. We can't understand your love either, but we know you love us because our lives have been transformed. We're not what we used to be and yet we're not what we will be because of your love and your power in our life. So, Father, I pray that you would take the feeble attempts that I've made to explain this text and Lord, there's so much here, so much here that we could dive into. And I just pray Lord that our lives would be filled with your fullness. That we would remove the distractions of this age. That we would not be nibbling at things of the world. That we would not be enticed with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We know if we are father, it says that these things are of the world and the world's passing away. But those who do the will of the father will abide forever. So let L Lord may we be known as women who love you, who want to serve you, and who want to bring glory to your great name. We ask this in your son's name, Jesus. Amen.