like this, which we call our sixth anniversary. It's proper for us to have these kinds of annual events. In the Old Testament, you see, God established certain days on the calendar each year for his people to remember his work in their midst, to rejoice in his blessing, and to remind them of his faithfulness. We are in that sense no better than they in that we also need to have regular reminders of what God has done in the past because
we easily forget. What God has done previously can soon become ancient history to us even though it's only a few years away and we lose a grasp on it. So I think it's good for us to remind ourselves every year what God has done in this brief period of time. I suppose that many of us go back and isolate certain incidents or events over these six years which have proven to us personally and to us as a church God's blessing, God's faithfulness in providing, God's leading.
It would be good if we had time this morning to select a few of those and have you share them, but we can't do that. Just to illustrate what I'm talking about, how important it is for us to keep these kinds of things before us, I wonder how many of you did not ever worship with us in the original building on this site. In other words, you came either during our year at Northwestern College when we met there, or you've come since
we've been back here in this facility. So you did not worship with us in the original building that was here at Hamlin and County Road B -2. Would you lift your hand? That's probably half of the congregation this morning. One of the things about an annual day like this is that it allows the newer people to Grace Church Roseville to understand a little bit of our history. And in that way, God is honored because God has done an amazing thing for us folks in these six years.
Grace Church Roseville, I think, can be summarized in a phrase that We have used some. We haven't used a great deal yet. But it's the phrase that says, teaching the word, reaching the world. It seems to me that that's a good summation of what we're all about. We are in the first place a Bible -teaching church. That is an emphasis throughout our ministry. We are a church that is as committed to the inerrancy of Scripture
as a church can be. We believe that because the Bible is inerrant, it therefore is authoritative in our lives. It is God's good news to us. It is God's communication to us, God's will for us, and therefore we emphasize the teaching of the Word of God. And then reaching the world.
We as a church are committed to outreach. That is going to be... stepped up a little bit this year in 1987 as we planned some specific events that are going to allow all of you who will to get involved in helping us to reach out to our community in an organized way. But of course we emphasize the fact that all of us all the time are reaching out to people, building bridges into lives for the sake of the gospel, that we might share with people the good news of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We are a church strongly committed to missions. Frankly, there are not many churches that have grown as quickly as we have and have had the financial pressures that come with that, as we have, that have also given to missions as we have. It may not be as much as some of us would like to see, but it's well above the average for a church that has our kind of a history
to it. We're committed to missions. We believe the gospel needs to get to every creature, that every person needs to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. and have the opportunity to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. So I think that that phrase is a good summation of what we're all about as a church, teaching the word and reaching the world. A local church will rise
no higher than its weakest member. That's why it's so important for all of us to be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and to this work that he has established. Where we will be a year from now or six years from now, Where we will be in the year 2000, as we're thinking in this Project 2000, depends upon our response to God. It depends upon our faithfulness. They say it depends upon God's faithfulness. Yes, of course it does, ultimately. But God uses people in his purposes. He uses
us. And so it is our commitment and faithfulness to this work of God that determines the measure of blessing that God will bestow upon us. in the years ahead. So may we be a faithful people, and a people who are faithful channels of the blessing that God desires to give. Let's turn together into the Word of God, to the third chapter of Ephesians, to the text that we've already
read in our responsive reading. Most important, most loving act which you can do for another person, for your spouse, for family, for your church, is to pray for them. Because you see, prayer is not the last resort. It's the first resource. Through prayer, you cooperate with God in realizing his purpose in your life and in the lives of others as you pray for them.
Here in Ephesians chapter 3, at the end of the chapter, we have recorded for us a second prayer of the Apostle Paul for the Ephesian church. he paused to pray for the readers of his letter. One might ask, why did Paul, as he was dictating this, take up precious space on a limited scroll to record a prayer? Well, in the first place, I think he did it because he wanted the Ephesians to know his heart for them. If you want to know the heart of another person, spend some time
with that person in prayer. Because in prayer, the heart becomes transparent. Paul wanted the Ephesian people to know his heart. Thus he recorded for them his prayer. Secondly, I believe he recorded it because he wanted them to follow his example. He wanted them to know how to pray for themselves and for the other churches. Thirdly, and overarching the other two reasons, Paul recorded this prayer because he was led of the Spirit of God to do
so. He was inspired of the Spirit of the Lord to write these words, and the Spirit of God laid it upon his heart to pray as he prayed. It is interesting that because his prayer is a part of the eternal word of God, Paul prayed not only for the Ephesians, but he prays for us today in this generation 1 ,900 years later. So we have the blessing of having an apostolic prayer for us recorded in these verses. Paul teaches
us to pray intelligently and spiritually. In other words, to pray with the mind of God himself. He knew what you and I must realize, and that is that studying doctrine, understanding the mysteries of the Bible, outlining its chapters, memorizing passages or even books, that these things are not in themselves sufficient to make us men and women of God. They are good things, and we ought to be doing them, but by themselves they do not make us spiritual people, mature
people, or people of God. It goes beyond those mechanics. to the point of applying those things in our lives. Our need, and Paul knew this, that's why he prayed the way he did, our need is to realize in our daily living what we know in our minds. The difference between these two is the difference between knowing the mechanics of an automobile and driving an automobile. They're entirely two different things. There are many
people who are caught up in the mechanics. of studying the Bible, learning doctrine, memorizing scripture. And those things are fine, but it must go beyond that to knowing how to drive the thing. There has to be an application of those things to the life that makes a difference in the way that we live. And that is what Paul prays about. This is the doctrinal half of the book of Ephesians that we've been studying in chapters
1 through 3. Back in chapter 1, Paul begins by telling us that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And then he begins to enumerate those blessings. And now he concludes this doctrinal portion by praying once more. And his prayer is that we might experience all of the fullness that God has for us. He begins by telling us what God has. And now he prays that we might experience
that fullness. And so after laying out what is true about us in these verses, the apostle asks God to make these things real in our lives, to enable us to enter into these blessings that are ours in Christ. Studying Paul's prayer will enlighten us how to pray better. to pray more effectively, pray more in the will of God. But it will also enable us to take another step toward becoming what God has called us to be in Jesus
Christ. I want you to notice with me the elements of prayer in Paul's words as he begins to explain and to pray in verse 14. Notice with me first this element, the prompting which Paul answers. He says, for this reason, I bow my knees before the Father. For this reason, there was a prompting in the heart of Paul to pray at this point. Now all of us initiate prayer, hopefully frequently. But I wonder if we are as skilled at responding
to prayer when God prompts us to pray. We pray when we're ready to pray, but are we ready to pray when God wants us to pray? That's my point here. Is there a spontaneity in our praying, or to say it a different way, is there an availability in our praying? What is it that motivates us to pray? Is it that it's that set time of the day? when we have scheduled ourselves to pray? Nothing wrong with that. Or is it that an arranged prayer meeting is about to begin, therefore we
pray? Nothing wrong with that either. But it seems to me that Paul goes a bit beyond that as he is writing in the flow of this epistle, because his heart is so in sync with God's mind and heart. that he responded spontaneously to the burden that was there. He was available to pray right then when this burden came on him. And the burden was the burden of spiritual truth. That was his motive for praying, it seems to me, because he has just explained to us the great
mystery, the mystery of Christ. That is that the Jew and Gentile are one through faith in Christ, one body which has equal access to God. And it is as his heart is filled with this truth that he is burdened to pray and he immediately begins to pray. He says, for this reason I bow my knees. The lesson here is this. You and I should not just pray for the things which are,
but also for the things that could be. Because Paul is burdened that the people in Ephesus and you and me today enter into the potential of the spiritual truth that he has just explained to us. Often our prayers focus on the things that are. God, we pray for Aunt Susie's liver to be made well. There's nothing wrong with praying for Aunt Susie's liver, I suppose. Lord, I pray for a safe trip for so -and -so to that destination. Nothing wrong with praying for that. That's good
to pray for that. But we pray so much for those things that are instead of praying for the things that might be entering into potential praying. Paul said, folks, here is the truth about you. And now I bow my knees to the Father, and for this reason I pray that you might enter into this thing and experience in your lives what God has given you in Christ. Pray for the things
that could be. Pray potential prayers. Notice with me, secondly, not only the prompting which Paul answers, but the posture that he assumes. He says, for this reason I bow my knees. There is no single command in Scripture that I know of that gives a correct posture for prayer. In fact, the Bible records a number of different postures in praying. For example, Solomon stood to pray, 1 Kings chapter 8. He is recorded there
standing up and praying to God. Our Lord Jesus went into the garden of Gethsemane, and there he fell on his face. He laid prostrate upon the ground. It's proper to pray that way. Daniel kneeled, as Paul suggests he was doing here. He knelt and prayed to God. In the scriptures we see that there are times when eyes are lifted up in prayer. There are times when hands are raised in prayer. No, that is not a charismatic
phenomenon. That is a biblical posture in praying, and there is nothing wrong with that, although it's often associated with that particular movement today. There is no command in Scripture that says that prayer should be done this way. There are many examples to us. But how do we know how we should pray? Well, I think there are a couple of guidelines that can show us. First of all, what's pragmatic? If one is driving a car and wants to pray, that's not the time to kneel.
We have to look at what's pragmatic. It may be that we're in a public meeting. That may not be the time to stand up and pray. And then I think a second question is, what expresses the spirit of the prayer? What is the sentiment of the heart as one prays? It may be that one is so desperately burdened about a situation. that all he can do is fall on his face before God
as Jesus did in Gethsemane. There may be other times when one wants to enter into a reverent time of worship and he kneels in prayer to show that submission to God. I think the sentiment of the heart, the spirit of the prayer can be involved in guiding us as to how to pray. On Wednesday night in our prayer meetings, we have some who kneel. We have others who sit. And by the way, In 1 Chronicles chapter 17, David is
recorded as having sat down to pray. So even a sitting position is recorded in the Bible as appropriate for prayer. The important thing about it is that the heart must be in communion with God, and the will of the person praying must be surrendered to the will of God. And sometimes that can be... evidenced in the posture that one assumes. In Paul's case, it was true. He says, I bow my knees. Thirdly, notice with me this element, the person whom Paul addresses.
He says, I bow my knees before the Father. Please note that in Scripture, prayer, generally speaking, is addressed to God the Father through God the Son. in God the Holy Spirit. I'm not saying that prayer to the Lord Jesus or prayer to the Holy Spirit are wrong in themselves. There are some who are very strict on that point, and I think they go to the extreme on it. But generally speaking, that is the order of our praying. It is to be addressed to God the Father. The Lord Jesus gives
us that example. In John chapter 17, as he prays his high priestly prayer, six times he addresses God as Father. He speaks to the Father. In his example, he tells us to pray that way. Secondly, in his command, he tells us to pray that way. Luke chapter 11, verse 2. When you pray, say, Our Father, who art in heaven. And thirdly, the Lord Jesus in his promise tells us to address the Father. For in John 16, 23, he says, if you ask the Father anything, he will give it to you
in my name. A broad promise. But Jesus says there, don't ask me, ask the Father in my name. And so in his example, in his command, and in his promise, our Lord gives us. That's instruction, to pray to the Father. Notice that he says, I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. Verse 15 has been interpreted about as many ways as any verse in the book of Ephesians. What does he mean by every family in heaven and earth?
Well, it seems to me that a better rendering of this at least from the context, would be what I think the King James Version has, and that is from whom the whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. Because Paul has been talking here about unity, not individual families, as every family might connote, but he's been talking about the unity of Jew and Gentile, the oneness of the body. And so it seems to me that this word, which can go either direction, should
probably be translated the whole family. That is, those who are in heaven and on earth. And let's face it, today the family, the family of God in this age, the church, is divided. There are those saints who are in heaven, in glory, and there are those of us who yet remain on the earth. But whether we be in heaven or on the earth, he tells us that we derive our name from the Father. What does that mean, that we derive
our name from him? Well, it seems to me that the word name or the idea, the concept in name is identity. You and I are called by a name, and that name gives us a personal identity. So what he's saying here is that we derive our identity, our character, maybe we can say even our existence as a family from the Father. For he is the one who is calling us out to the fellowship of his Son. He is the one who by his Spirit is causing us to be born again to a living hope so that
we are a part of his living family. family. And so it is from him that we derive our identity, our existence. Paul addresses the Father, as all of us should, generally speaking, in our praying. A fourth element needs to come to our attention, and that is the petitions which Paul advances. Verses 15 through 19. This is the real heart now of Paul's prayer. Notice that he relates in his praying to each person of the Trinity. In verse 16, he speaks about the power of the
Spirit. In verse 19, he speaks about the love of Christ the Son. And in verse 19, he speaks about the fullness of God the Father. And so once again we see a Trinitarian formula used in the book of Ephesians, and that has happened several times, and we have noted some of those. Notice the petitions that Paul asks. These can be divided two, maybe three different ways, but it seems to me that they fall out very naturally
in three petitions. The first one is found beginning in verse 16, where he petitions that we might be strengthened with the Spirit's power. The second one is found in verse 18 especially, where he says he prays that we might comprehend Christ's love. And then the third one is found in verse 19, where he prays that we might be filled up with the Father's love. fullness. Let's take a look at those three requests that Paul advances
to God, these petitions. To be strengthened with the Spirit's power, literally says in the original language, by power to become mighty through the Spirit. That's what Paul prays. Do you want to pray for another person in a Bible way? Do you want to pray a Bible prayer for yourself? Then here is an excellent place to start. Pray that you might be strengthened, made mighty with the Spirit's power. That power, of course, resides
within us already. But what Paul is pointing out here is that that power needs to be appropriated. It needs to be accessed. for application to our lives. Now he has spoken about power before this, especially in chapter 1 at the end of his prayer. But now he introduces a particular application of it, and that is the power that we can have in our own walk with God. This is his first mention of that specific theme, although he would mention
it again in this epistle. He prays that we might be made mighty, by power through the Spirit. He says that that is something that occurs in the, notice this, the inner man. What is that inner man? Obviously, he is contrasting it to the outer man. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, he says, though the outward man perishes, that's our body. Our bodies are on the downhill slide. We don't have to think a lot about that to find
that true, do we? Though the outward man is decaying, yet he says the inward man is renewed day by day. The inner man is the real us. It's the you that lives in that body that's sitting there before me. It is the you that is described as the Spirit. Paul is focusing particularly on that part of you that is regenerated by the act of the Holy Spirit. It is that part of you that is eternal. It is that part of you that is not
dependent upon the decaying outward body. It is that part that can be renewed day by day. Now in that part of you, says Paul, I pray that ye may be made mighty by the Spirit's power. You need that, and so do I. Even our Savior needed this. It says in Luke chapter 4, verse 1, as he faced his temptation, That he was filled with the Holy Spirit. And a very similar phrase is used later on in the same chapter in verse 14,
when he began his public ministry. Our Lord Jesus, here upon the earth, ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit and not his own strength. If our Savior needed the power of the Holy Spirit, to live and to serve God in this world. How much more do you and I need that same power? And notice that there is no lack of that supply. He says, I pray that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to know that mighty power. I care not what the challenge may be in your
life. Perhaps it is a personal struggle you have or a public ministry that you're facing. Whatever that need is, there is power in the Holy Spirit to enable you. That need can be met. You can be made mighty through the Holy Spirit's power in the inner man to accomplish God's will. Now it's interesting to notice what he says will be the result of this. That's the first part
of verse 17. He says, I pray that you may be made mighty through his spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. You say, well, I thought Christ already dwelt in my heart. Well, of course he does, in one sense. Colossians 1 .27 says, Christ in you, the hope of glory. That's part of the mystery. That Paul unfolded in the New Testament. The personal indwelling of Jesus Christ in every
believer. And he said in Galatians 2 .20, that verse that many of us can quote, Christ lives in me. And so yes, Jesus Christ in that sense does indeed indwell the believer. But the word that Paul uses here for dwell means to settle down. to make it a permanent habitation, or the idea is that Christ may be at home in your life. The suggestion is that the Lord Jesus, while he may indwell us, may also, in fact, be made restless, be made to feel uncomfortable in our
lives. Warren Worsby calls this an ever -deepening fellowship, this indwelling. Ironside called it enthronement. He says what Paul is praying is that the Lord Jesus Christ may settle down on the throne of your heart and be in control of your life. I rather like that particular emphasis. I want to ask you, As each of us must ask ourselves, is the Lord Jesus Christ at home in you? Surely he dwells there. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, if you're a child of God, but the
point is, does he live there in comfort? It is only as he is placed in that position of control, authority, and enthronement that he's made to feel at home. Paul says, I pray that you may know the mighty power of the Holy Spirit so that Christ will be at home in your life. You know what a suggestion is? That if I do not walk in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, if I do not enter into that truth, Jesus Christ cannot
feel at home in my life. It is only as I enter into the truth that he prays for here, as I begin to experience the mighty strength and might that comes through the Holy Spirit empowering me, it is only then that the Lord Jesus is able to relax, as it were, and be at home. in this vessel where he lives, which he purchased with his own precious blood. And notice that this is something that happens through faith. He says that Christ may settle down and be at home in your hearts
through faith. This is an act of obedience, an act of dependence. And we say, Lord Jesus, be at home. And we say, Holy Spirit, fill me. Empower me. Make me to know your mighty power so that the Lord Jesus will be at home in me. Paul prays to the Father that we might know that truth. The summary of it is this, that the believer might be made mighty in his inner man by the Spirit's working so that faith's active obedience will make Christ be completely at home in him.
The second petition that he offers up is found beginning in the last part of verse 17 where he says that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend. Now skip down to verse 19. And to know. The love of Christ. That is his second request. It focuses on the Lord Jesus, and it has to do with his love. He prays that we might know and comprehend that love which is incomprehensible and unlimited. That seems paradoxical, doesn't it? And indeed
it is to our human thinking. But Paul prays that we might enter into and appropriate the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no geometric measurement that can measure or define or set the boundaries of the love of Christ. Yet he speaks here about the breadth and length and height and depth. The love of the Lord Jesus Christ has such breadth that it embraces all
peoples of the world. There is no race, there is no language group, there is no nationality that is outside the embrace of his arms and his love. The love of Christ has such length that it reaches from eternity past in the act of election unto the ages to come and eternity future in glory. The love of Christ has such height that it brings the sinner who believes up to the very
throne of God and seats him with Christ. The love of Christ has such depth that it stoops to the lowest place to reach the most unlovely amongst mankind. It is said that Napoleon's soldiers, entered a castle in Spain and went down into the dungeon. And there they went into a room that had not been entered for many years. They found there what had been a prisoner. The flesh, the clothing, long before had left, gone, decayed. But there were his bones, what was left of them.
And there was... A chain around the ankle. On the stone wall above the head of the prisoner was scratched out with a piece of sharp metal that was there, a cross. And there were four Spanish words around the cross. Height, depth, length, and breadth. Whether Paul had the shape of the cross in mind as he talked about these four dimensions. That man who had died in the Spanish Inquisition for his faith in Jesus Christ
certainly applied that truth to the cross. The apostle says that we have been rooted in that love as living organisms. We have already been grounded in it. We are a living temple. It provides, Christ's love provides the stability of a foundation for us. But he prays that we go beyond that, that we go into the depths of Christ's love, that we be made able to comprehend. That is, that God make us strong enough to grasp the extent
of Christ's loving purpose in saving us. Beloved, if only we could understand the love of Jesus Christ for us, it would humble us and break our hearts. It would cure those struggles with his lordship that we have. It would bring under his control those areas of life where we rebel. If only we could enter in to this love, Paul prays we might know. The summary of this prayer is that the believer might, by the Holy Spirit's work, be made capable of discerning and assimilating
the magnitude of Christ's love for him. Then the third request is found in verse 19. We praise that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Notice that he is not praying here that we might be filled with deity as God is. He is not praying that we may become gods. But he is praying, as one commentator, I think, accurately put it, that we might be filled to the fullness God requires. In other words, what he is praying for in these words in verse 19 is that we might
be brought to spiritual maturity. in the Father, that we might be completed, that we might grow unto perfection. In Colossians 2 and verse 10, it says that we are right now positionally complete in Jesus Christ. There is nothing that we lack. We do not need a second work of grace. We do not need a second blessing. We do not need a so -called baptism of the Holy Spirit. Everything that we shall ever need is already ours in Jesus Christ. He says, and you have been made complete
in him. But now Paul uses a very similar word. He prays that you might be filled up to this completion. You see his point? It is that we might be brought into the experience. of our completion in Christ. That we might grow, that we might mature. It is unfortunate when we measure our spiritual growth and maturity against others. Because, you know, we can always find somebody else who's a little lower than us. And that makes
us feel pretty good. What the Apostle is telling us here is that our real measurement is Christ -likeness. He says, I pray that you may mature to the point of being just like the Lord Jesus Christ, the fullness of God. As you measure yourself against that standard, how mature are you? The summary of this prayer is that the believer might experience nothing less than the fullness of maturity and the completion that God has created him to know. Folks, do you see that petitions
like these teach us how better to pray? And they also challenge us toward knowing in our own lives the fullness of blessing that God has called us to experience as his children. For it is possible for us to be children of the King and yet to live as beggars. It is possible for you and for me to possess in Jesus Christ the very riches of God, and we do, but to live in this world defeated, impoverished, and foolishly. That is a great tragedy. There's a tragedy that is nearly
as great as the loss of one's eternal soul. I would hasten to say that there is nothing so great a tragedy as that. To go into eternity without Jesus Christ and to spend that eternity separated from God in the suffering of hell, there is no greater tragedy in the universe than for that to befall a human soul. But I tell you this, close behind it is the tragedy I'm talking about here. It is the tragedy of knowing Christ and to live out one's days on earth beneath his
potential blessing. That is a catastrophic loss that can never be reclaimed because we have only one shot at life. We only pass through this day one time and then forever it becomes history to us. To know the Lord Jesus Christ and to possess all that we do in him and to spend our days wastefully, unyielded to his lordship. To fail to come into the fullness of purpose and blessing that God has for us in this life, in this world, not to speak of heaven. That is a great catastrophe.
I want to encourage you today to let God answer this prayer of Paul for you. Let God answer that prayer in your life. To do it, God will not overrule your will. He will not. But he will work in your will. He will work to bring you to a place of surrender and obedience. Are you at that place today? Is Jesus Christ the Lord of your life? Do you know the love that Christ has for you? Do you know spiritual maturity, the power of the Holy Spirit? Would you bow with me? My friend,
those are what God has provided. Christ's love, the power of the Spirit, Spiritual maturity and completion in the fullness of God. Are you moving that way? Or is your life stuck? Have you tripped over some rut? Are you stuck in a crevice of sin? If you don't feel that you're moving in that direction of experiencing more of what God has provided for you in Christ, will you make this day? March 1, 1987, a day of new beginning
for you. Will you tell the Lord right now to fulfill this prayer in your life, whatever the cost? Our Heavenly Father, in our hearts, we lift up this petition of Paul, and we pray that you will find it being fulfilled in our lives by your gracious work. And to the extent that we have checked you here and stopped you there, bring us to awareness of that and conviction, so that we may confess it and walk in obedience.
I pray for every brother, every sister in this room, as I pray for myself, that we might know the strength of the Holy Spirit's power, that we might know the love of the Lord Jesus Christ for us, and that we might be filled up to the fullness of God. In Jesus' name, amen. Would you stand together with me, please? There's a chorus that we often sing, but it's a chorus that has great meaning. Think of the words as we sing and declare the lordship of our Savior. He is Lord.