General introduction:
In your opinion, what does God expect from us?
• What would you say?
What would be the first thing that comes to mind?
• That we obey him,
o that we follow his commandments.
• Or rather that we talk about Jesus
o and his sacrifice around us.
• Or, is it rather to love our neighbor
o and to serve him.
All these things are good things,
• And God wants us to be able to do these things.
But what all these things have in common:
• is that they are, in a way, the result
o of something more fundamental
 and more relational
God wants first
• that we can each know his love for us.
• That we may taste how good he is
Textual introduction:
The letter to the Ephesians is a letter written by Paul,
And so far, the apostle has encouraged us
• through truths
o that are beyond us.
• Truths about God,
o about his character,
o about his plan
o about what he has done

• Truths that overwhelm us when we think about them.
And so from the beginning of his letter,
• when Paul blesses God / praises him,
o He plunges us directly
 into the immensity of God's goodness for us.
 Into his love.
Dominique Anger, in his commentary on Ephesians
• speaks to us of God's love
o through God's GIFT
GIFT. We have been:
• Chosen: God chose us
o before the creation of the world
• Adopted: In his love, he predestined us
o to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ.
• Delivered: In Jesus, by his blood, God has
o redeemed us, forgiven us of our sins,
 in accordance with the riches of his grace
• Enlightened: He has made known to us his plan for humanity,
o namely that Christ reigns over all creation
• Acquired: He has made us his people,
o Jews and non-Jews are now part of one people
• United: Finally he has united us to Christ
o and thus united one another
Paul will develop these things in the rest of chapter 1 and up to the middle
of chapter 3.
But Paul does not simply want
• people to know these things
• or even simply to believe that it is true

Obviously it is necessary
• but Paul wants more for us, he wants much more.
• God wants infinitely more for us. He wants us to grasp these things,
• to know these things,
• he wants us to experience these things,
• to live them in our whole being.
That is why - he says - I bend my knees before the Father.
• Recognizing that we are all
o totally dependent on him
Paul wants us to experience the power of the gospel.
• Not simply to understand the immensity of Christ's love for us
o but also to experience it,
o live it,
 deep within us,
 even in our guts if I may put it that way.
Paul prays that we experience,
• From now on the power of the gospel
o by the power of the Holy Spirit.
1. Power to Receive Christ
In verses 16-17a,
• i.e. the first half of verse 17,
Paul prays for the same thing,
That Christians may be:
• Mightily strengthened by the HOLY SPIRIT in their inner being
o or
• Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith.

These two things are interchangeable
Here Paul is not praying for Christians
• to receive the HOLY SPIRIT
• or to receive Christ
No, Paul has already said rather in Eph. 1.13 that
• the day they believed in the gospel that saves,
o they also received the HOLY SPIRIT.
o They received Christ in their heart
No, Paul prays here, rather, that this same HOLY SPIRIT,
• the 3rd person of the Trinity,
may
• Powerfully strengthen them in their inner being
• or that Christ dwells in their heart
In other words,
• that the SE be more and more active in them,
o that the SE become the master on board, the pilot,
 in their inner being
• that Jesus take more and more possession of their life
o That he be more and more at home
 in their heart.
The inner being or the heart both refer
• to the same invisible dimension of the person.
• It is the center of our being
• or the control tower as Dominique Anger would say.

And so, being strengthened by the Spirit
• in our inner being
• is also hosting Christ in our hearts.
But not as a guest who would come to spend a night at your house,
• whom you install on the sofa or in the guest room
• A guest who will do his best not to disturb the course of your life too
much.
No, Paul is speaking here, that Christ inhabits the dwelling,
• that he makes it his home.
• That he settles at home in your heart.
When I arrived a little before Liz in our new apartment in Paris,
• It was a mess. Enora and her brother Augustin may still remember it.
• There were boxes everywhere,
o too many pieces of furniture,
o two mattresses.
o In short, a mess.
To make the apartment habitable,
• before Liz came to France
I started opening the boxes,
• tidying up the cupboards,
o so that it would be at least habitable.
When Liz arrived,
• there was a new wave of tidying up,
o Well, a tsunami even.
We moved the furniture around,
• we got rid of useless things (guitars, and my piano, etc.),

• better optimised the cupboards.
• In short, we made sure that the apartment pleased us,
o in which we would enjoy living.
This is exactly what the Holy Spirit does
• when he comes to live in the heart of the Christian:
The Holy Spirit does not come just as a visitor,
• But as a resident,
o Who wants to reorganizes everything inside.
When I put everything away before Liz arrived,
• I was happy,
o a little proud of myself,
o I said to myself, Liz is going to arrive in a nice apartment.
And when she arrived,
• she was happy to be able to live with me,
• and start this life together.
She did not say to me: "What is this mess in the cupboards,
• and this little piece of furniture all rotten,
• do you think I am going to live in there"
No, patiently, gently, she said to me, maybe we could reorganize a little.
• Then little by little we changed a little
or a lot
 Powerfully in fact,
That’s exactly what the Spirit does when he moves into our hearts,
• he transforms from the inside
• patiently and gently
• but powerfully, radically

And he does it in accordance with the riches of his glory.
He doesn’t do home staging,
• by repainting an old wardrobe in taupe,
• and throwing a herringbone throw over the old sofa.
No, he replaces the old with brand new, much nobler materials.
Here’s what Richard Coekin, a planting pastor and director of the Co-
mision church network in England, says:
“When the Spirit of Christ moves in, he gradually redecorates everywhere.
• Room by room, the old, horrible wallpaper of selfishness is replaced by a
brand new wallpaper called love;
• the old ceilings darkened by the fear of death are repainted with the
bright colors of hope in the resurrection of Christ;
• the old dirty carpets stained by years of immorality are replaced with
new clean carpets of purity and kindness;
• and the old rickety furniture of idolatry is gradually replaced with new
sparkling ministries that revere Jesus.”
Paul prays that the Ephesians would experience this transforming power
of the Spirit.
• Paul prays that the SE would work mightily in them.
I don’t know how you feel about this kind of prayer.
Sometimes when we think of this
• we think of a demonstration of power,
or extraordinary miracles
 like healing or something.
• That’s not what Paul is talking about.
Sometimes we might think of power
• that would give us influence.
• Speak with power, have impact.
Paul is not praying for an outward demonstration of power
• but for powerful action of the SE

o in our inner being,
o in our heart,
• For a hidden power,
o that which works in us.
And while God is doing this, God is also doing something else:
• He allows us to know the boundless love of Christ for us
2. The power to know the (boundless) love of Christ
Middle of verse 17 let’s read together:
I pray that you may be rooted and grounded in love
• 18 that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the
breadth and length and depth and height of the love of Christ,
• 19 and to know this love that surpasses all knowledge
Again, Paul has already spoken to them about God’s love for them,
• which was manifested in Christ and by his sacrifice
• and I invite you to reread the first 2 chapters of his letter on this subject.
But Paul prays this time that this love
• immeasurable,
• which surpasses all knowledge
o Be known,
o Experienced by the Ephesians
I don’t just want you to know how much God loved you,
• I now want you to experience it more and more.
And you see this goes hand in hand with the transforming work of the
Holy Spirit in us.
It is not first that the Holy Spirit transforms us,
• that he takes control of our hearts,
• and only then will we know the love of Christ for us.

No, it is as Christ dwells in our hearts,
• As the Holy Spirit transforms us,
o That we also experience the love of Christ for us.
And the more this love of Christ is lived
• the more it impacts our hearts and our lives.
Moreover Paul says: be rooted and grounded in love:
• The love of Christ is the soil
o in which God makes us take root,
 to make us grow,
 so that we become mature.
Love is the solid foundation on which God builds.
Paul prays that we experience,
• know the love of Christ in all its dimensions,
• the width, the length, the depth, the height of his love.
And there again - the love of Christ for us is not just
• great and vast,
it is immensely great,
• to the infinite measure of God
o it surpasses all knowledge.
And yet Paul says: I pray that you know it, that you experience it.
• Knowing the unknowable is a bit strange.
Last September, Liz and I were in Montenegro
• and we drove up to the peaks overlooking the Bay of Kotor. It’s
Magnificent!
We knew the bay was big,
• because we had already driven on the coast all around
o and it had taken us a while,

o so we knew it was relatively big.
Then we got in the cars,
• and you know how it is,
• you zigzagged up the side of the mountain to climb.
• And at each turn,
o we had an ever more incredible view of the bay.
• The higher we went, the more we saw of the bay
o and the more we realized the size of the lake
• and there at the top, next to it, even more immense
o the sea as far as the eye could see.
We can’t go around the love of God,
• but we can
o sometimes in an intense and strong way
o or sometimes in small touches
 experience the love of God
Christians know that God loves them,
• you know that God loves you,
• but Paul prays
o and God wants
 that you know that he loves you.
So what does it look like to experience his love,
• to taste how good the Lord is?
There are surely various ways, but Paul says:
• I pray that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints
o what is the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of
Christ.

Knowing the love of Christ is an experience specific to each person but
which is lived especially with the church.
John Stot comments on these verses by saying:
The isolated Christian may indeed grasp something of the love of Christ,
but what he grasps will remain confined to the limits of his own personal
experience. To understand the fullness of God’s love, nothing less than the
whole people of God is needed.
One of the ways we taste the love of God
• in a very special way together
• is in our times of worship as a community.
Sometimes as we sing
• we also hear the congregation with us
• speak the wonderful truths of the gospel.
• Of God’s love for us
• and we taste, we experience the sweetness of God’s love for us.
Very often,
• I am moved
o and I feel my lower lip move less,
o because I realize, I experience the love of God
o and I say to myself
 this is true Lord, thank you.
Or in moments of brotherly communion,
• or I benefit from the kindness of a brother or sister.
In my family we didn't hug each other too much.
• we weren't really huggers,
When my mother died in 2015,
• I remember saying to myself.
o Lord are you simply the God who reforms thoughts.

• Then, one morning I went to church,
o and a brother took me in his arms,
o and there it was no longer him that I had in mind,
 it was the Lord.
 He took me in his arms.
I have experienced and continue to experience the love of God through
the church.
Dear brothers and sisters:
I pray that you may be able to comprehend
• with all the saints
o what is the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of
Christ,
• and to know this love which surpasses knowledge,
• that
o you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
To be filled with all the fullness of God,
• is not
o becoming divine or being equal to God,
No, being filled with the fullness of God
• it is the result of one part
o of the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us,
o and on the other hand of knowing the love of God.
• It is reaching the maturity that God wants us to reach;
• The fullness of God
o it is his perfection
o Being entirely directed by him
3. But is it even possible?
It seems a bit big anyway,
Is Paul speaking in a hyperbolic way?

• Knowing the unknowable love
• being filled with all the fullness of God
Isn't Paul going a bit far there anyway?
Dear friends,
• not if we realize how powerful the God we pray to is:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or think,
according to the power that works within us
God is able to do
• super exceedingly to say more literally
• beyond measure, super abundantly.
We are far from being able to imagine how powerful God is.
Think of the greatest number you know,
• not with powers
o but a number you can state
• Is it good you have it?
• It is nothing compared to what God can state!
Think of the best vacation you could ever have?
• Is it good you have it?
• It is nothing compared to what God can do!
We have no idea of the power of God.
So that is the first reason
• why we can have confidence that God can answer Paul’s prayer
His infinite power
The second reason is that this power is already working in us
• To him who can do, by the power that works in us
The Holy Spirit who is so powerful is already working in us.

• He is there.
We already have, today, through him
• everything we need to grow,
• to be a more and more suitable dwelling place for the King of Kings,
• for our character to be transformed into the image of Christ.
• To make us know the love of Christ
The Holy Spirit is already there with us.
• This same Holy Spirit who was at work at creation
• This same Spirit who raised Christ and seated him at the right hand of
God the Father in the heavenly places!
The Holy Spirit is with us
Finally one last reason,
• if you needed one last
• to have confidence that God will answer such a prayer
It is that in doing so: God will be glorified
• God will be glorified
o in our eyes
o and through us.
Our God wants to be glorified,
• and his glory
• and our spiritual happiness
o are linked.
God delights in transforming us for his glory,
• God delights in making us know his immense love.
Let me finish by quoting Richard Coekin again:
I read
Often, we are tempted to think that God wants good for us, that he wishes
us the best, but that he cannot really change things. We are therefore

reluctant to pray with confidence. But when we ask for things that will
advance his plan to unite all things under Christ, including helping us
become a proper dwelling place for his Spirit and to know the unknowable
love of Christ, we must remember to whom we are speaking. God is willing
and able to do for us and in us immeasurably more than we can imagine,
because he loves his church with an infinitely gigantic love. And the more
we experience his patient and transforming love, the more we will joyfully
cry out with Paul:
And I would like to invite you to stand now and read this doxology
together
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or
think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to him be glory in
the church [and] in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.