Ron Dunn Podcast - Strengthened By The Spirit Part 2

Episode Date: December 21, 2022

Ron Dunn continues from Ephesians with part 2 of Strengthened By The Spirit

Ephesians chapter 3, and I'm going to begin reading with verse 14 and read through verse 21. Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 through 21. And we're continuing our studies concerning the Holy Spirit's ministry in the life of the believer, as taught in the book of Ephesians. And tonight, the passage we're reading is one of Paul's prayers. There are two intercessory prayers of Paul in Ephesians, one in the first chapter and this one in the third chapter. We will begin reading with verse 14.

Paul says, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, in order that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints

what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Now, Paul's letters are among the richest. And the richest part of his letters are his prayers. As you study these letters, and especially the letters of Ephesians, and you come to these prayers, there is more revelation, more in-depth insight into the plan and purpose of God,

more unfolding of the riches of God's goodness to us contained in the prayers of the Apostle Paul, more in these prayers than you'll find in any other of his writings. And the tremendous thing about the prayers of Paul is this, that Paul's prayers are God's promises. And every time you come across one of Paul's intercessory prayers, you put that down that this is more than just the expression of one man's desire. It is more than just one man's prayer, but it is a revelation of God's purpose and God's promise to us. Because Paul is writing and praying under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And so the very things that he prays for in this third chapter becomes for us immediately the promise of God to us.

And so whatever it is that Paul is praying God will do in the lives of these people, we take tonight as God's promise to us that this is what he wants will do in the lives of these people, we take tonight as God's promise to us that this is what he wants to do in our lives and will do in our lives as we become available to him and obedient to him. Now, this prayer that Paul is giving in this third chapter really is a prayer that has three petitions to it. Now, it doesn't show up in the English version, but in the Greek text, there are three little words that can be translated in order that. And you'll find the first one in verse 16. He says, in order that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be

strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. Now, the second is in verse 18, and it's not even translated in the 18th verse, but it's there just the same. In order that we may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. And then in the middle of verse 19, you'll have the third that in order that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. And so this prayer really has in it three petitions.

Number one, that these believers might be strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Number two, that they might have the capacity to understand the love of Christ. And number three, that they might be filled up with all the fullness of God. Now, these petitions are progressive petitions. In other words, he's not saying, I pray that, number one, you'll be strengthened, number two, you'll understand the love of Christ, and number three, you'll be filled with the fullness of God. What he's saying is, I'm praying that you might be strengthened with the Holy Spirit in the inner man in order that, having been strengthened, you might comprehend the love of Christ.

In order that, having comprehended the love of Christ, you might be filled with all the fullness of God. It's like a telescope. One leads into the other, and they get larger and larger as you progress. And the ultimate, the climax of it all, is that you and I might be filled with all the fullness of God. And beyond that, you cannot go, because that fullness includes everything that God has for us. And so there are three progressive petitions in this prayer. Number one, that we might be strengthened in order that.

Number two, we could comprehend the love of Christ. You will never be able to grasp and understand and comprehend the love of Jesus until, first of all, you're strengthened by the Holy Spirit. And then having grasped and understood the love of Christ, then we are able to be filled with all the fullness of God. Now, we're going to take tonight the first petition because it is the basic petition in order that we might be strengthened in the inner man by the Holy Spirit. Because if we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit, then we will be able to go on to comprehend the love of Christ, and then we will be able to go on and experience the fullness of God himself. And so tonight, strengthened by the Holy Spirit. This is the

ministry of the Holy Spirit. So I want us to read verses 16 and 17 again, and then we're going to study them. This is his basic and foundation petition, that God would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. And that's far enough right now. Strengthened according to the riches of his glory in the inner man by the Holy Spirit, so Christ can dwell in our hearts by faith. Literally, Paul is saying, I am praying that God would make you mighty with power. That God would make you mighty with power. That God would make you mighty with power. That God would put within you, and the word translated might, of course, is that word that we're so familiar with,

is the word that indicates a dynamo, a continual source of energy. And here's what Paul is saying. He's saying that when God saves us in God's plan of redemption, he does more simply than take away our sins and blot out the past, but he gives within us a capacity, a new capacity to live this present life. And so Paul is saying, I am praying for you that God in his sovereign grace, and it is a gift of God, that God would grant to you, would bestow upon you, that you might have a continual source of energy dwelling within you and that this continual source of energy might make you powerful and mighty to live the kind of life that God wants you to live.

Now, one of the most significant things concerning the prayers of Paul is this, that always when he discusses what God has done in the past for these believers, this spurs him on to pray that God will do more. Paul's never satisfied. He's never content. A sign out here says, be satisfied with what you have, but never be satisfied with what you are. And in a sense, that's exactly what Paul is saying. This is the expression of his own heart as he sees what God has done in the lives of these believers. And I think if you'll study the epistle to the Ephesians, you'll have to say that he's done a great deal. But Paul is never satisfied. There's no satisfying of grace. There's no stopping place. There is always advancement and progression. And so Paul says, because God has done such and so for you, I'm

praying that he will even do more and that you will be made powerful by the strength of God as it becomes within your inner man, a living dynamo, a continual source of energy. Now, several things I want to point out about this strengthening. Number one, it is to be realized in the inner man. He says that we're to be strengthened in the inner man. Now, what is the inner man? Paul is saying God works from the inside out, and that's always God's plan. Man works from the outside in. Man seeks to change the outside, and by changing the outside, hopes to change the inside. But God always starts at the inside, and if the inside is changed, if the inside is what it ought to be, then it will express itself on the outside. And so the first thing that we need to understand is

that God doesn't do any surface work. God never does any surface work. Anytime you and I have an experience or we make some progress and it turns out to be simply surface work, it was just a flash in the pan. It was just temporary. We know that it was not a genuine work of God. In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus is describing the reactions of different people to the word of God. And he uses the parable of the sower and the seed and the soil. And he's saying some seed falls into what could be called thin earth. There is a thin layer of good ground, but underneath that, there is a solid ledge of rock so that the seed can't get any root. And he says you sow the seed there there and immediately, immediately it springs up

and brings forth fruit. But he says, by and by when the sun rises and the heat begins to shine on it, it dies because it has never taken root. And he says, there are some people that receive the word of God like that. They receive it and immediately there's fruit. Immediately they receive it with joy. Immediately there is an expression in their lives, in their actions, in their language of having received the Word of God. But it is only surface work. It is only surface work. He has no root in himself. And after a while, because of the persecution of the world or because of the unpopularity of the word of God, he begins to dry up and die away. What happened? It's surface work and it never took root. What God is simply saying is that fellow was never genuinely saved. He gave the expression of being saved and gave the

indication of having received the word of God, but it was just surface work. And God never does surface work. God always goes to the depths of a man's being. And this strengthening is to be realized in the inner man, in the inner man. Where you need to be made strong tonight is not in your outward life, not in your outward man, but you need to be made strong in your spirit. Some of us want to be made strong physically. Some of us want to be made strong physically. Some of us want to be made strong intellectually, and we'll go to the Bible and study the doctrines of the Bible and memorize verses, which is all very fine and good, but we sometimes have the idea that if we can be strengthened in the outer man, strengthened in our intellect and strengthened

in our will, that this will get us through. But God says that he strengthens us in the inner man. He goes deep. He strengthens us in the spirit where the spirit of God dwells. The inner man is what Paul was referring to in Romans 7, 22, when he says, I delight in the law of God in the inward man. And in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16, Paul says the outward man is decaying and passing away because of advancing years, old age, and persecution and afflictions. The outward man is passing away and decaying. But he says at the same time, the inward man, the inward man, the true life, is being renewed day by day. Being renewed day by day. Being strengthened day by day, being renewed day by day, being strengthened day by day. And so in the life of the believer, he is constantly growing weaker in the outward man

because of the decay of the flesh, but he is constantly being made stronger in the inward man. In 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 4, as Paul is giving instructions there as to how a wife who has an unsaved husband is supposed to live so as to reach him for Jesus. He says that her adornment must be the hidden man of the heart, that she is not to try to win her husband to Jesus by what she wears outwardly, by the way she does her hair, or the perfume she uses, or the jewelry she wears, or the dresses that she wears, but her adornment, her dress, it is to be the hidden man of the heart. And it is when the hidden man, that inward man, is strengthened and made right and related to Jesus rightly that it will express

itself in such a way as to bring that unsaved husband to Jesus. And so this strengthening is to be realized in the inward man. Second thing, this strengthening is regulated, he says, by the riches of his glory. You know, the one thing that you'll find over and over and over again is that God is no piker. This phrase, according to the riches of his glory, according to the riches of his glory, you'll find connected with a dozen promises in the word of God. For instance, in Philippians 4.19, But my God shall supply all of your needs, how?

According to his riches in glory. Same expression here. That we are going to be strengthened in the inner man according to the riches of his glory. In other words, God's measure of how strong he wants to make us is the resources of his own nature. And that we can be just as strong as God himself is. Now, don't misunderstand in saying that we become like God and have God's own nature and we actually become God's, but what he's saying is that he wants to strengthen us according to the measure of his own nature. How much strength can I have?

Well, I can have as much as God himself has. In other words, God is saying he wants to support me in the manner to which he is accustomed. And the biggest problem in many of our Christian lives is that we think that God wants to support us in the manner to which we are accustomed. And we try to measure God by our own resources. But Paul says you can be just as strong as God is strong, and you will run out of strength when God runs out of glory, and I don't think he'll ever run out of glory. And so when I come to God and there needs to be a strengthening within the inner man, my delight in the law of God isn't what it ought to be, the hidden man of the heart isn't expressing

itself as a witness to others, and so I need to be strengthened by the Holy Spirit within the inner man, then how much am I to expect? How much can I ask for? I can ask for just as much as God has, and it is to be measured by the riches of his glory. All right, a third thing about this, that this strengthening is received by the Holy Spirit. This is a ministry of the Holy Spirit. Now, there is something very important

you and I need to understand. I think for years, one reason I misunderstood what it meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit and what the Spirit-filled life was all about was that I had the idea that the filling of the Holy Spirit was something that a Christian needed for service,

that it was a power to enable you to witness. As a matter of fact, a very well-known evangelist said to me one time that until he came to understand the Spirit-filled life, that every time he walked into the pulpit, the Spirit of God was upon him. But when he walked out of the pulpit, he was as carnal as anybody he had preached to. And I think that most people through the years have received the idea that the power of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the Holy Spirit

is for service. And you need it when you go to a mission field, or you need it when you preach, or you need it when you teach. But what God is pointing out in this prayer is that the Spirit filled life is not power for service, but it is power just for daily living, just for daily living. And in order for me in the inward man to be what I ought to be, the Holy Spirit must perform his ministry of filling me with himself. And so Paul is saying that day by day as I walk in fellowship with God,

the Holy Spirit is infusing into my inner man, is pouring into my inner man power and strength and might so that I will be sufficient to do whatever God has called me to do. Now there's one final thing about this that I want to point out, and this really is the most important part of this study. The result of being strengthened by the Holy Spirit is that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith. Look at the 17th verse.

After he has prayed and says, this is my prayer that you may be strengthened in the inner man by the Holy Spirit, he gives the purpose or the result of this inner strengthening. And it is that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Now, remember that the people to whom he is writing are already saved. Christ is already in their hearts. Well, now, what does he mean? If Christ is already in your heart, and he has to be if you're saved, if Christ is

already in your heart because you are saved, then what does he mean? I pray that you might be strengthened so that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. What does he mean? There is a difference. I want you to listen very carefully. There is a difference in being truly a Christian and being fully a Christian. A man may truly be Christian, but not fully Christian. In other words, there are degrees and advances in our relationship to Jesus Christ. In every believer's life, Christ is present. In some believers' lives, Christ is prominent. And in a few believers' lives, Christ is pre-eminent. It's possible for Christ to be present, and that's it.

It's even possible for Christ to be prominent. That's a little bit better than present, but that's not enough. And there are a lot of people that have Christ prominent in their lives. But he is not pre-eminent. There are degrees in our relationship with Jesus. And Paul is writing to people who've already got Jesus in their heart. He's present in their heart, maybe even prominent in their heart, but not preeminent. And he's saying, I'm praying this, that the Spirit of God will strengthen you within the inner man so that Christ, and here is a literal translation of the Greek text, so that Christ may once and for all feel at home in your hearts.

The word dwell is a compound verb. It's made up of a word that means to dwell and a word that means down. And it means to settle down permanently or to be at home. It's an aorist tense verb that means a decisive, once for all, beginning. In other words, Christ is indwelling our hearts, but Paul is saying, if when the Spirit of God strengthens you and fills you with himself and with his power, then Christ will not only be in your heart, but he will be at home in your heart, and as one man translates it,

and will feel comfortable there. And I think that really brings it out. That he will not only be at home, he will feel at home. Have you ever gone and visited somebody and they said, make yourself at home? And you've tried. I mean, you've tried. You've worked at it. You've done your best to feel at home, but you just don't feel at home. And I go into your house tonight, I'm certain, if I were to come over and visit you,

and you'd say, Pastor, just come in, make yourself at home. And you think you mean that. And so I sit down in the den, put my feet up on the coffee table, say, Pastor, just make yourself at home. And you think you mean that.

But, if I get up and start going into the different rooms, looking in your closets, rummaging through your drawers and chests and boxes, I don't think I'd feel at home. And I don't think you would want me to feel that at home. You see, there is a difference in being at home and feeling at home. And the idea here expressed is that Christ may be at home and feel like it in your heart. May feel like it in your heart. Not only that he'll be present, not only prominent, but that he'll be preeminent.

Now listen, when you make room for the Holy Spirit and allow him to fill you with his power, he will make room for Jesus. Now, the most amazing thing is this, that I would think that the reason I need to be strengthened with the Holy Spirit is so I can go out and shake the world. Or so that I can preach in a great crusade. But I want you to notice, the reason that you and I need to be strengthened with the Holy Spirit

is not so that we can do great things for God, but so that we might receive great things from God. A fellow can't even receive the blessings of God until, first of all, he's been strengthened by the Holy Spirit. And you know why some members of MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church have never received experientially in their lives the fullness of Christ and are not walking in victory? They don't have the strength to receive it. If you come across a man who is starving to death, he has to be strengthened enough to eat the food. And some men, as they grow closer to death,

become even too weak to eat. And before you can even receive the blessings that God has for you, before you can even receive those blessings, you have to be strengthened. And when you are strengthened, he uses language here that you would use of a salvation experience. And I think what the Apostle Paul is saying is this. He's saying, folks, you've had Jesus present and you've had Jesus prominent,

but I want you to know if the Holy Spirit ever gets hold of you and strengthens you with might in the inner man, Christ will become so real and so preeminent in your life, it'll be like being saved all over again. That's the language that he uses when he speaks of Christ dwelling in your hearts. He uses language that speaks of a new arrival. It's as though Christ has never been there. And can you say amen to that if you've entered into that fullness of Christ? You know, the difference between a carnal Christian and a spiritual Christian is just as vast as the difference between a saved man

and a lost man in his experience. I'll tell you another reason, though, you need to be strengthened. And it's this. For Christ to settle down and be at home in our heart means that he no longer is simply guest, but he's master. And he dwells absolutely and totally sovereignly in our hearts. And I want to tell you something, the heart of man is reluctant to welcome Jesus as master. You'd have to be strengthened to let me go through your house and look in your closets. I'm certain that I'd hear somebody say as

I rummage in through your closet, Lord, give me strength. You see, there is that in our heart that dreads, even though we know it's what ought to be. And even though part of us wants Jesus Christ to become Lord, yet there is a part of us that dreads it. Because we know that if he does come into our hearts like this, and he does become no longer guest but master, we know that we're going to have to turn over the reins of our life to him and i tell you there's just something about us that is reluctant to do that reluctant to do that and before a man

can allow jesus christ to become sovereign lord in his life, the Holy Spirit must first come and strengthen him, give him the strength to make that decision. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by means of your faith. That's our side. God's side is sovereign. He says, I'll grant this and I'll send the Holy Spirit to strengthen you and enable you. Your part is faith. Just to receive, just to trust. And when that happens, Christ settles down in our heart and feels at home there. And we're no longer

just truly Christian, but we're fully Christian. And as we make room for the Holy Spirit in our lives, he makes room for the Lord Jesus Christ and he comes in and he takes over. And this is God's purpose and God's plan and God's promise for every believer's life that the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit might strengthen us with his power in our inner man. And as that happens, as that happens,

then Christ is able to be at home in our hearts. Now let me close by asking you just this question. If Christ tonight is not at home in your heart as he once was, and now you get a little nervous when he begins to go in the various rooms and open the different closets,

I think if you will check up, you will find that somewhere along the way you have either grieved or quenched the Holy Spirit. You have either quenched the Holy Spirit by saying no to him when he said, I want you to do such and so, or you have grieved him by saying yes to some sin. And so his ministry has been neutralized in your life, and he is not able now to infuse this power in your inner man. And you have become weak in your inner man.

Not weak in the outward man. You probably teach that Sunday school class just as good as you ever taught it. And if you were to stand up tonight and lead in prayer, you could probably pray just as eloquently as you ever could. And if you were to go tonight and witness to somebody about Jesus, you could probably read off the four spiritual laws just as efficiently as you ever could. But I want to tell you something. While you have strength to serve and have strength to preach and strength to sing and strength to teach, you don't have strength tonight to let

Jesus be Lord. And you know, there's nothing more difficult and more frustrating as to try to get back where you were and you remember the joy that once i knew when first i saw the lord well how it was when jesus was really at home and you opened every door every closet every room and said lord it's yours it's yours access to every room you're at home this it's yours. It's yours. Access to every room. You're at home. This is your home. Man, there was no worry. There was no problem when Jesus opened the door and said, I want what's in there.

You didn't flinch. You didn't cringe. You had no concern. It was his. But you find now that that old feeling isn't there. You know Christ is still there and he's probably prominent, but he's not preeminent. And you keep wishing and trying some way or another to get him back on the throne, get him back. What you need, but you're just too weak. And I know exactly how some of you pray.

You say, how do you know? Because I've prayed it myself over and over again. I know how you pray. Lord, you're going to be different tomorrow. Now, this time, I'm really going to let Jesus be Lord. Now, this time, I'm really going to let him be Lord. This time, I'm really going to let him have the mastery over every room in the house. This time, I'm really going to do it. And you know something? You don't have the strength to do it. And you need to get rightly related to the Holy Spirit and check up on your life. You have either grieved the Holy Spirit by saying yes to sin or you have quenched Him

by saying no to Him when He said, I want you to do such and so. As He strengthens us in the inner man, we're strong enough to welcome Christ as Lord and Master in the home of our life. The Ron Dunn Podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent.

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