IF we turn to the first chapter, we shall find that Paul’s prayer there rolls on a different name from this. There it is not the “Father,” but the “God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory and it is not the moral character of God Himself that we find there, but certain wondrous things come forth from God. The hope of His calling is the first; the marvelous future of the saint, called by the Father of glory to be in that glory, which He gives as the “God of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Then there is “His inheritance in the saints.” As of old, He is not going to give up His land. He commands that it should never be sold, for it is His inheritance; so He, the Father of glory, will not give up His inheritance in the saints.
The third thing in the Apostle’s prayer is, that we may know the exceeding greatness of His power, which He put forth, as the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, in raising Him from the dead, as the Head of a body, composed of poor sinners, and then setting Him, and us in Him, “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.”
But all these glorious things, while they come forth from God—for it is His calling, His inheritance, the exceeding greatness of His power—are not a display of God Himself.
The prayer in our chapter is concerning intimacy with Himself, as the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is communion; not thoughts of glory, but present communion with the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Then I am carried along, like a little vessel in a mighty stream, by the mighty power in my soul of the love of Christ.
Is Christ dwelling in your hearts by faith? If you look at verse 17, it does not speak of the Spirit of Christ dwelling in your hearts, or whether, as saints, your bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost. These are true of all believers. It would be unbelief to ask for the Spirit of Christ, or that my body might become the temple of the Holy Ghost; but Christ dwelling in the heart is the practical experience of a Christian in a close walk with God. I ask then, does Christ thus dwell in your hearts? You may be in great trouble and trial, just as a poor afflicted saint on a sick bed might be deeply tried by circumstances, and I might go and ask about those circumstances. I might say—Well, what about your daily bread? Is the Lord supplying your need? And if the heart were full of Christ, the answer would be—Oh, do not talk about my troubles; talk about Christ. If Christ were dwelling in the heart, He would be the first thing to come forth from the soul.
Another Christian, who might talk of having the Spirit of Christ, and his body being the temple of the Holy Ghost, when I came to hear a little of the workings of the inner life, I might hear of nothing but worldliness, because Christ was not dwelling in the heart by faith. Is your soul so undimmed, is the new nature so free and bright, so kept turned up to heaven, that Christ in heaven is seen reflected in your heart? Now, if we are honest with ourselves, what answer can we give to this dwelling of Christ by faith in the heart?
I am sure, for myself I can say, I desire earnestly and continually to bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that He would grant this unto me; and unless you can say, Christ does indeed dwell in my heart, I would say, I desire earnestly to bow my knees for you also, that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ would grant this to you.
In verse 16 we see the way that Christ dwells in the heart. It is by the mighty operation of the Spirit, strengthening the new nature in which He dwells, and the heart is lifted up to the Father to grant this operation of the Spirit in us.
It is very blessed to dwell on those words, “According to the riches of His glory;” it brings before the soul all the Father’s delight in our Lord Jesus Christ. What are the riches of the glory of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? In that name I have a volume which contains the whole display of the moral glory of God, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a plea then to use, in asking for Christ to dwell in our hearts! Cannot I say to Him—Art Thou not the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ? Art not Thou the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Is it not Thy will that we should be Christ-bearers through the world—that Christ should dwell in our hearts! He is our Lord Jesus Christ, and is it not pleasing, is it not according to the riches of the glory of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that this Son of His love should dwell in the hearts of all His children Surely, there is something in this plea that just suits us in all our need. Cannot I say, I am sure He would have me full of this love of Christ? I am sure it is according to the riches of His glory that Christ should dwell in my heart? I am sure that He, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, will hear such a prayer, and will give the answer according to the display of that glory.
In the end of verse 17 practical hindrances are removed by our being rooted and grounded in love. Till we are thus appropriating all the love ourselves, we shall be quite unable to comprehend with all saints, the breadth, depth, length, and height, or to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. Take, then, first, the soundings of this love of God for your own soul, and see how far it is appropriated by you.
If we are thus rooted and grounded in love, we can meet every obstacle, and Satan himself, who will take good care not to let us go on without trying to shake our confidence in this love, he will say—Ah! what a poor, pitiful thing you are to talk of being rooted and grounded in this love. Yes, Satan, I am a poor, pitiful thing indeed; but the very pitifulness of my case shows forth the purity of the love of God to one like me.
Then this love will be tested by Christians. We shall find much in them which does not at all respond to it, much to lead us naturally to grow cold towards them; but if rooted and grounded in the love of God, we shall not look at them in their inconsistencies, or in their rewarding one, as they did Paul, who said, the more abundantly he loved, the less he was loved. We shall only look at them as children of the Father, and according to the delight He has towards them as the Father of their Lord Jesus Christ. Then, as regards the world, we must expect from it hatred for our love. We must look for nothing but unthankfulness from that which knows not God, but, if we are rooted and grounded in love we shall not think of what it returns, but of the exceeding sweetness of our being the beams of God’s compassion to it.
If you would walk as one rooted and grounded in this love, you must draw it fresh from God every morning. You cannot store it up. It must be fresh. Live, then, in constant communion with the God of love, not fretting yourself either because of your own evil, or because of evil doers; for when a soul frets itself about anything whatever, it is not in communion with God.
Verse 18 has often suggested the question concerning the breadth, length, depth, and height. The question has been asked—Of what? Some have answered, of the love of Christ, but this is not said, and we have the love of Christ as a distinct thing in the next verse. This question—Breadth, length, depth, height—of what? reveals the condition of the soul of the enquirer. Suppose I ask—Of what? You could fairly reply by asking—Are you there? Are you really conning the mystery of which this chapter speaks—of the Son of God filling all things as the Head of a body—God manifest in the flesh—of the mystery of a Christ in glory displaying the manifold wisdom of God—of the Christ of God descending into the lower parts of the earth, and then ascending up, far above all heavens, that He might fill all things; and you are asking—The depth and height of what? Surely, in fairness, it may be replied—If you ask such a question, is your soul really in communion with this wondrous revelation of the mystery which once was hidden from ages and generations, but now is no mystery at all, God having revealed it by His Spirit? Now, if my mind is occupied therewith, I shall see breadth, length, depth, and height in every direction.
Take the simplest question, the putting away of sin. David measured God’s mercy and the putting away of sin by the distance of the heavens from the earth, of the east from the west. Is that all? Oh, then it is a very little way! I can look down to that depth when the Christ of God bore my sins and cried,— “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” and then I can look up to that throne of glory and see the Christ of God set far above all principality; and power, and might, and dominion, and I can say— So great is His mercy, and so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. Again, a Jew would say— “He hath cast all my sins behind His back.” I can say—So far from casting them behind His back, they were all brought to the light when He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, and now, in the light of the glory of God, the Lord of glory bears in His person the marks of their having been forever put away—so complete is the triumph of God over the guilt which was upon me.
But, besides this scanning of the length, breadth, depth, and height, there is the knowledge of the love of Christ. It is precious to know the compassion of Christ to a poor sinner, and when we get on a little further, His loving sympathy for us as our High Priest; but the love of Christ mentioned here is in connection with the Father’s name. It is the love of Christ to the Father’s children. He loves them because He sees His Father’s name upon them—because they are His Father’s choice and His Father’s gift. Do I know the love of Christ to my soul in this manner? Do you? This is what the Holy Spirit delights in showing us. He has not only taken possession of you as His temple, but He is going to deck that temple to please Himself. He will have no idols there. He says, Christ shall be honored there. All the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be known there. Christ’s affection is in the soul who is in communion. This ought to be the history of your experience, past and present. Not like the case of a dying Christian, who, when I asked her if she had joy, said—No, none at all. It is all bright up there. I see Christ is everything for me. I have an answer to all I am in Him; but when I look within, all is in a mist. I have been walking badly, and I cannot have joy down here. Surely this is not a happy state to be in, though it shows the marvelous love of God, in keeping her soul alive in Christ, and in her being able to say—All is bright above, though all is in a mist within. But how different from this to have Christ dwelling in the heart—to have a present life with God just the unconverted man has a present life with the world! So for you and me really now to enjoy a life with the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Ghost, scanning the breadth, length, height, and depth of the mystery, and having the Christ of heaven dwelling in my heart, and revealing to me His love. It is thus the Holy Ghost delights to keep us; not by continually checking and rebuking; not by drying up the sinew of the thigh, as with Jacob, causing us to halt; or saving us as by fire, burning the city over our heads, as with Lot; but by the mighty savor of the love of Christ filling our souls!