The Ministry of the Mystery of the Masterpiece

Chapter 3:1-13.

A. Paul the Prisoner of Jesus Christ. Verse 1.

"For this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles,’'

The great Apostle begins to speak of himself and the mystery which had been made known unto him. In the brief word of greeting, with which this epistle begins, we find his name mentioned as an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Then followed at once that marvellous unfolding of the Masterpiece of God in all its riches and precious depths. And now he is to tell more fully of the mystery of the Masterpiece; and as it was revealed to Him as the Apostle to the Gentiles, he writes, “I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles.” He became the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for the Gentiles, when on his last visit to Jerusalem, he related his experience, speaking from the stairs, which led into the castle, and addressing the Jews in the temple court. When he told them that the Lord had said unto him, “Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles,” the Jewish mob would not listen any longer, but cried out, "Away with such a fellow from the earth!” (Acts xxii:21-22). In this way he became the prisoner of the Lord for the Gentiles. From the prison in Rome the most blessed messages were sent forth by the Holy Spirit through Paul.

B. His Ministry concerning the Masterpiece. Verses 2-5.

indeed ye have heard of the dispensation of the Grace of God which is given me toward you, how that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery (as I wrote before in few words, whereby when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."

a. Made known by revelation.

b. The Mystery of Christ.

c. Hidden in other generations.

d. Now made known by the Spirit.

He speaks of that which they had known, and learned from his oral teaching, that the Lord had entrusted him with the dispensation1 of the grace of God towards the Gentiles. The Gospel of Grace in all its marvellous riches, flowing out to the Gentiles, was given to Paul to proclaim. He spoke of this Gospel which he preached as “my Gospel.” In defense of that Gospel, the dispensation of the grace of God, he wrote to the Galatians, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if anyone preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” These are solemn words. They have occasionally been termed a passionate outburst of Paul, when he found his authority belittled by the judaizing teachers, which troubled the Galatians. They are not that at all. The Holy Spirit bears testimony in these words to the fact that he had received a dispensation of the grace of God towards the Gentiles, and that the Gospel, which he so faithfully prolcaimed, was given to him by revelation of Jesus Christ. It was therefore a most serious and solemn thing to interfere with that Gospel, or to teach anything which was not in harmony with it. The curse of God must surely rest upon those who pervert or counterfeit that Gospel. How much this is done in the days of apostasy needs no further illustration. The day assuredly comes, when the divine anathema will be executed upon Christendom, which has set aside the true Gospel and proclaims what is not the Gospel at all.

The Apostle had received this double ministry, the Gospel and the ministry concerning the church (Col. i:23, 25). Both are inseparably connected. Indeed they were revealed in germ at his conversion. He saw on the road to Damascus the Lord in His Glory. The Gospel he received proclaims to the sinner, who believes on the Son of God, a blessed identification with the risen and glorified Lord. Then he heard the Lord speaking to him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” He persecuted Christians and not Christ, but he learned then, that believers in Christ are one with Him. This is the germ of the truth concerning the church. In Ephesians the stewardship or dispensation concerns mostly the church.

This mystery was made known unto him by revelation. The word mystery needs a brief definition. It is not something mysterious, but it means that which was unknown, hidden from man, till it pleased God to make it known by revelation. When our Lord spoke of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven in Matthew xiii. He said: “I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.” The Apostle Paul often speaks of the mysteries made known. See 1 Tim. iii:16; Col. i:26-27; Col. ii:2; Eph. v:32; 2 Thess. ii:7; Rom. xi:26. He reminds the readers of this Epistle that he had mentioned the mystery before in a few words. Without doubt this directs our attention to the first chapter of the Epistle. Then he had stated “the mystery of the Christ.” What is it? Not merely the statement contained in the last verse concerning the church, as the body of Christ, but Christ Himself. Christ whom God raised from the dead, whom He set at His own right hand in the heavenly places, under whom God hath put all things and who is the Head of His body. This body is the church. His own fullness.

This mystery of a risen Christ, who has a body composed of believing Jews and Gentiles, is the mystery, which, in other ages, was not made known unto the sons of men. It is the mystery which was kept secret since the world began (Rom. xvi:25). From the beginning of this Epistle we learned that the church was in the counsel of God before the foundation of the world, but He let ages go past till He was pleased to make it known. This statement settles the question once for all concerning the existence of the church,  the body of Christ, in and during the Old Testament dispensations. Yet it is one of the most widespread views that the church existed from the beginning of creation and the words of promise contained in the Old Testament prophetic Word are the promises of the church, and its glorious future on the earth, in reigning over the nations. Before this mystery could be made known, the Son of God had to come into the world and go to the cross to make propitiation for sins. Furthermore, He had to ascend upon high and take His exalted position at the right hand of God, and the Holy Spirit had to come down from heaven. On the day of Pentecost the church came into existence. The assembled believers in Jerusalem were not alone filled with the Spirit, but also baptized by the Spirit into one body. But even on that glorious day, when the evidence was so wonderfully given, that the One who had died on the cross is risen, and at God’s right hand, the truth concerning the church, the mystery, was not made known. Peter did not preach a word about the church. The Lord chose Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of the church, as steward of this hidden mystery. It was revealed to him. When he states, “it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit,” there is no clash whatever with the previous claim of the Apostle, “He made known unto me the mystery.” The apostles and prophets (New Testament prophets and teachers) received also the truth concerning the mystery, but as under him, to whom the Lord gave the revelation first of all. They were acquainted through Paul’s revelation with the mystery, and the Holy Spirit led them into the knowledge of it.

C. The Mystery Stated. Verse 6.

“That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the Gospel.”

a. Gentiles — fellow-heirs.

b. Of the same body.

c. Partakers of His promise in Christ.

We look at these statements separately. That Gentiles should be fellow-heirs2 with Jewish believers in a distinct body is a new revelation. The Old Testament abounds in promises for the Gentile nations. These promises speak of righteousness and peace, which the nations of the earth are to enjoy. But they all stand connected with the age which is yet to come. That age is introduced by the visible manifestation of the Lord. At that time the people Israel will receive the place of headship among the nations. The Gentiles will join themselves to Israel, and Israel has the promise that the nations will seek the light and glory revealed in their midst. “And the nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about and see; all they gather themselves together, they come to thee. Thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then shalt thou see, and be filled with delight; and thine heart shall thrill, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the nations shall come unto thee” (Is. lx:3-5). Many similar passages could be quoted, but in not one of them is it even hinted at that Gentiles will be joint-heirs with Israel. In this mystery of the church there is revealed an inheritance, which is far superior to any inheritance promised to Israel and to the nations in the coming Kingdom. Christ, whom God has raised from the dead,. and who is in the presence of God, is also made by God the heir of all things. Believers in Him are called “joint-heirs with Christ” because they are sons of (5od (Rom. viii:17). Both believing Jews and believing Gentiles are joint-heirs with Christ, and in the future day of His glory, they will rule and reign with Him.

Then “of the same body” joint-members. The believing Jews on the day of Pentecost were formed, as already stated, into one body by the Holy Spirit. They became then one spirit with the Lord, and that marvellous organism, the body of Christ, had its beginning Gentiles are joint-members of the same body; they are united with all the saints in one body. And therefore believing Gentiles are joint-partakers of His promises in Christ by the Gospel. These promises again do not concern the earth, but they concern the glory to come. Israel’s promises will be fulfilled, and they will be under Christ as King, when He comes to reign. But the body of Christ has far greater promises in Christ. The body will be joined to the head, share the glory of the head and be where the head is. The Head, Christ, and the Body, the Church, composed of believing Jews and Gentiles, joint-heirs, joint-members, joint partakers — this is the mystery.

D. Paul, the Minister of the Masterpiece, Verse 7.

“Where of I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me according to the effectual working of His power."

a. According to the gift of His Grace.

b. According to the working of His Power.

The Apostle Paul states once more the fact of his divinely given ministry. It was the gift of the Grace of God unto him; the Grace which called him and made him the steward of God’s highest revelation. And this stewardship distinguished him from the other Apostles; for this reason Paul refers to it so often. He knows what was committed unto Him. The Grace which was given to him was linked with the manifestation of “His power”; it was “according to the effectual (literal: energetic) working of His power.” This statement must be linked with Chapter i:19. One of the things Paul mentions in the prayer of the first chapter is the knowledge of the exceeding greatness of His power, which is to usward. “And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.” We remarked on this verse that this mighty power, which raised Christ from the dead and made Him Head over all things, is to usward in a three-fold way. When we are quickened with Christ; when we believe and receive the gift of God, eternal life, as a present possession, that power is manifested. It is on our side in our walk; in the conflict, in trials we can count on it. In the future this mighty power will be to usward, when the shout of the Lord will be heard from heaven, when the dead in Christ are raised and living believers are caught up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The great Apostle to whom these blessed truths were so fully revealed experienced in himself the working of this mighty power. He knew the exceeding greatness of His power. It worked in him and through him. It enabled him to serve and to suffer. Nor must we forget the remarkable experience he made, when he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words (2 Cor. xii:1-4). “As the chosen interpreter of God’s hidden mysteries, and the special expounder of the church, it was fitting, that he should be so initiated into the realities of heaven, as to become an unfaltering, and, as it were, familiar witness when declaring things unseen.” The gift of His Grace and the working of His Power are seen together in Paul as the minister of the Masterpiece.

E. The Proclamation of the Unsearchable Riches. Verse 8.

“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”

126 God’s Masterpiece.

a. The Apostle’s humility.

b. The unsearchable riches of Christ.

Saul of Tarsus, the young Pharisee, of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, as he described himself (Phil. iii;5) and exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers (Gal. i:14), was no doubt filled with pride. Grace wrought a marvellous change in him. The name Paul means “little,” expressing the beautiful humility, which characterized the life of this chosen instrument. In the Glory-light which shone around him on the way to Damascus, he had seen his own vileness and unworthiness. He had seen the Lord. This vision broke him down completely, so that he speaks of himself ever after in terms of self-abasement. “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor. xv:9). “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Tim. i:12-13). He called himself “the chief of sinners.” And here in the Epistle in which he unfolds through the Spirit of God the highest revelation concerning the Masterpiece of God, he takes the very lowest place. He called himself “the least of the Apostles”; but now he goes deeper than that. “Less than the least of all saints” is what he thinks of himself. He might have made much of his superior knowledge, of the great revelation given to him, and he might have paraded a kind of an official pride as the Apostle to the Gentiles. But the high calling, the mystery made known unto him, the blessed ministry given to him, produced far different results. It humbled him into the dust before God. It could not be otherwise. Grace, such wondrous grace, as revealed through Paul, reaching down to such as we are, lifting so high with such an unspeakable calling and destiny, will ever humble us into the dust to give Him the glory. Grace necessitates this. The more we know of the blessed mystery of God’s Masterpiece, the less we shall think of ourselves and delight to take the lowest place. Truth learned or knowledge gained in spiritual things, which does not humble us and make us think less and less of ourselves, is a dangerous thing. Truth, must ever break us down and lead into self-judgment and self-abasement.

And how little of this true humility, manifested by the great Apostle, is seen in our days! Many desire to be teachers. How often a novice, flattered by others on account of a little gift, becomes lifted up with pride and falls into the crime of the devil (1 Tim. iii:6). Instead of being humble, such are puffed up. They glory in the little knowledge and forget what is written: “What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why doest thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1 Cor. iv:7). Their pride of heart leads them to claim that they have received “new light.” No one before them, even the most blessed teachers of bygone days, knew the truth in such fulness, as they have discovered it. They make the boast that they follow no man, but read exclusively the Bible. More than once have they been found out to be plagiarists, reproducing almost verbatim the works of others. Their attempt to be original leads them into error. Such men ought to be shunned, for they belong to that class against which the Holy Spirit warns. “Also of your own selves, shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts xx:30). Treat with suspicion such who claim to possess more light and knowledge in divine things than others, and who are puffed up with pride. A spiritual Christian will soon find that the utterances and writings of such teachers, though beautifully worded, leave the heart empty. The power of God is not there.

Paul speaks of what he had to preach as the gift of grace. This grace enabled him to preach among the Gentiles “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” This means more than the preaching of salvation to the Gentiles. What riches these are, which God has revealed in Christ! They are riches of grace, riches of inheritance and riches of glory. Christ is the mystery of God, in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. ii:2, 3). And these riches are xmsearchable; we cannot fathom their depths.

F. The Purpose of the Mystery. Verses 9-13.

“And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ; to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God. According to the eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord; in whom we have boldness and access by faith of him. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.”

a. To make all men see. Verse 9.

b. To show to principalities and powers the wisdom of God. Verse 10.

c. According to the eternal purpose. Verse 11.

d. Access with confidence. Verse 12.

e. The tribulations of the minister of the mystery. Verse 13.

His ministry in the preaching of the unsearchable riches of Christ was also to make all men see the fellowship of the mystery. Those who are saved, and therefore belong to Christ, are meant. The natural man without a spiritual nature cannot grasp these things, but the believer, Jew and Gentile, is to see “the fellowship of the mystery.” The better rendering is “to enlighten all (with the knowledge) what is the administration of the mystery, hidden throughout the ages in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.” The word “administration” (economy) is the same as dispensation; the mystery is the one stated in verse 6, “that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, etc.,” the mystery of the one body, the church. Before we learned that this mystery was not made known in other ages. This is once more emphasized by the statement that the mystery was hidden in God from the beginning of the world.3 How necessary therefore is the knowledge of this hidden mystery, but now made known, to the people of God! Alas! this great mystery of God has been obscured and hidden by the enemy of the truth. We see about us the sad results springing from the ignorance of this mystery. May all those who acknowledge still the authority of the Word of God, and desire to please the Lord by obedience, enter deep into this most precious revelation and carry out in a practical way the truth of what the church is. This is the way in which we can enjoy the unsearchable riches of Christ.

The tenth verse leads us still deeper. While the mystery is made known to human beings, the principalities and powers in heavenly places learn to know by the church the manifold wisdom of God. The principalities and powers are heavenly beings, the host of angels. Little do we know of these unfallen beings, their habitations in the heavenlies and their ministrations. Some day, when we shall know as we are known, these mysteries will all be known to the heirs of glory. For in the day of His manifestation (and our manifestation with Him) the angels shall worship Him (Heb. i:6, 7) and the redeemed will know these celestial beings. They have, as the creatures of God who know Him and His works, an intense interest in the affairs of this earth, one of the smallest body in the vast universe. In the hour of creation they sang for joy (Job xxxviii:7). Throughout the history of the Old Testament we hear them mentioned and often they appeared on earth as the servants and messengers of Jehovah. Intelligently they entered into all His ways and works, as He dealt with the earth in mercy and in judgment. They beheld the wisdom of God in many ways. Yet what God had purposed before the foundation of the world, the hidden mystery, was not known by them. Prophets prophesied of things to come and searched to know the meaning, and angels desired to look into these things (1 Pet. i:11-12).

Gabriel was sent to the virgin to announce the incarnation. With what wonder those heavenly beings must have looked on, as He, who is in the bosom of the Father, laid His glory by and took the creature’s place! They hovered near the place where He was born and broke out in their heavenly praise. Angels ministered unto Him after His temptation in the wilderness. No doubt they were with Him all along the path. He so patiently went in His humiliation. An angel appeared in Gethsemane to strengthen Him. With what awe they must have stood by when wicked men nailed Him to the cross, when the prince of glory died! The angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled back the stone from the tomb. They were present at His resurrection. They witnessed the farewell scene on Olivet and gave the message of hope to the disciples. When He ascended up on high these principalities and powers beheld the glorious victor, for it is written that He was “seen of angels” (1 Tim. iii:16). With what joy they must have seen Him enter God’s presence far above themselves, made so much better than the angels! What Hallelujahs they must have cried in heavenly ecstasy, when the Man Christ Jesus took His place at the right hand of God!

And now they behold the manifold wisdom of God by the Church. That, which no prophet ever saw, what no human being could have imagined, what no angel ever knew, what was known alone to God, took place. The church, the body of Christ, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all, began on earth with the Coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. They see how this body is being built, fitly framed together, and they know the glory which awaits that body. Therefore now is made known unto them by the church the manifold wisdom of God.

And because the angels possess this knowledge, they rejoice over one repenting sinner (Luke XV:7). They know what it means to the sinner, and more so to Christ, when another member is added to His body. Nor must we lose sight of another statement. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Heb. i:14). We do not know how they minister to our need, but we know they do minister.

The principalities and powers in verse 10 do not include the evil spirits as mentioned in Chapter vi:12. Satan, no doubt, is forced likewise to see the power and wisdom of God by the church and his coming defeat and overthrow likewise.

And all this great mystery now made known is “according to the eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In Him we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him. We can draw nigh to God and enter into His presence. The Greek word “parresia” translated by “boldness,” means really “free speech”— that is, the speaking of all. It is the blessed privilege of prayer. How sad, that we made nigh by blood, sharers of the unsearchable riches of Christ, are so slow in making use of such a wonderful privilege!

Then Paul addressed His Gentile brethren personally. He desires that they faint not at his tribulations for them, which is their glory. The blessed instrument chosen to make known the mystery suffered in prison. Suffering belongs to the body, as the Head also suffered. We suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him (Rom. viii:17). And Paul wrote in the Epistle to the Colossians, “Now, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and I fill up that which is behind of the tribulations of Christ in my flesh, for His body, which is the church” (Col. i:24).

Well may we glory in tribulations when we think of the glory which is ours in Christ.

5. The Prayer unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 3:14-21.

The great unfolding of the Masterpiece of God has for its closing paragraph a prayer and a doxology. The first doxology we found in the opening chapter (verse 3), where also the first prayer is recorded. And now after all these riches were made known, the blessed truths, and the mystery of the Masterpiece, a second prayer, follows.

A. The Prayer. Verses 14-15.

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every family in heaven and earth is named.”

The first prayer is addressed to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. We learned what is connected with that prayer. The petition is that “we might know.” The second prayer is addressed to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.4 Here it is the question of love, that we may enjoy in our hearts the riches of His grace and possess Christ and His love, as a reality in our hearts. It is not enough that our minds grasp the marvellous revelations of the Masterpiece of God, and we receive the knowledge of the blessing wherewith He hath blessed us in Christ. The heart is to enter into all this. We must know in a practical way what it all means. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is our Father. He is the Father of every family (not “the whole family”) in heaven and earth. And this does not mean that modern day error, the All-Fatherhood of God. The teaching that God is the Father of the entire human race and that every human being is a child of God, independent of faith in Christ, is unscriptural. But what does it mean “of whom every family in heaven and on earth is named?” Angels are here first of all viewed as a family over which God is Father. He is the Father of spirits. Israel will be the family of God in that blessed future day, when they will receive their promised blessing. Then Israel will be indeed God’s son on the earth and they will know Him as Father. The Gentiles, too, when they are blessed with believing Israel in the age to come, when righteousness reigns under the sceptre of the King of righteousness, will also be a family, and God will be known by them as a loving and merciful Father. But, while the position of angels and their relationship to God is exalted and most blessed; and the position of Israel in the Millennium will be one of glory as a redeemed family; and saved Gentile nations will know the Father and be sharers of earthly glories— -the relationship and blessing of the Masterpiece of God, the church, is infinitely higher than every other family in heaven and earth.

B. The Petitions of the Prayer. Verses 16-19.

“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.”

a. To be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner Man. Verse 16.

b. That Christ may dwell in your hearts. Verse 17.

c. To comprehend with all saints. Verse 18.

d. To know the love of Christ. Verse 19.

e. To be filled unto the fullness of God.

The first petition is that “He would grant you, according to the riches of His Glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.” In the first chapter we saw our wonderful position in Christ “to the praise of the glory of His grace,” and the prayer that we might know “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the Saints.” And here we have the standard given according to which we can address our petitions and claims to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is according to the riches of His Glory. Thus we find it expressed in another epistle. “But my God shall supply all your need according to His Riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. iv:19). This is the treasure from which we can draw. Oh that we might remember it each time we bow our knees and address the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. How poor and feeble our words are! Our petitions often sound as if they were addressed to a God, who is limited in His power or unwilling to shower His fullest blessing upon us. The difficulty with us is that we look too much to ourselves, to our failures, to our own struggling experience, and not enough to Him who is our Lord in Glory and the riches of glory, which are for us. How different our prayers would be if, before we approach Him, we would meditate first on Himself and the riches of glory, which are now on our side! Praise would burst forth from our lips and His Spirit would fill us. Let us reckon with these riches of His glory, the riches of Himself displayed in Christ, in His Cross, in His presence at His own right hand; and may we constantly remember that our Father wants us to lay claim to them. And if we do that we shall indeed be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. The Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts. He is the Spirit of power. He is with us and in us to strengthen us. And if the Spirit of God is ungrieved in our hearts. He will constantly direct our attention to Him, who is altogether lovely. He reveals to our hearts “the Riches of His Glory” ever shining from the Word of God, the full display of God in the Person of His Son and all His Riches. It is then, when He does this work in us, that we are strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.5

And this leads us to the next petition, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” Beautiful prayer! And what a wonderful thing it is! Christ is in the highest Glory, far above all principalities and powers. We beheld His Glory and His Future. All things are to be put under Him. And in Him we are. “In Christ” is the sweet music of this Epistle, sweet and precious to God and to those, who enter into these things in the Spirit. But here we are told that Christ Himself is to dwell in us. What a difference there is between an occasional guest in a home and one who really comes to abide. Christ is not to be a visitor in the heart of the believer, but He is to dwell there. Beautifully does this petition correspond with the words of our Lord. Read John xv. His parable of the Vine and the Branches. “Abide in Me and I in you,” “We will come unto Him, and make our abode with him” (John xiv:23). “I in them and Thou in Me,” thus He prayed before He went to the Cross. And Paul, through whom the Holy Spirit prayed this prayer for the Saints of God, knew the blessed truth, for he confessed “I live, nevertheless not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. ii:20). And faith is to lay hold of it, while the Holy Spirit makes it a reality for us. And then to walk, to live, to act, to serve with the consciousness Christ dwells in my heart! The Christ of the Glory, the Christ of God in me and I in Him. As we are occupied with Him and His Glory, He dwells in our hearts by faith. We must be rooted and grounded in love. As we think of Christ, are occupied with Him and His Glory and He dwells in us, we shall indeed be rooted and grounded in that love which passeth knowledge. The roots are to go deeper and deeper into the love of God. While all about us is being parched spiritually, because the apostate masses turn their backs upon the Gospel and the Cross of Christ, the roots of our faith must take the strength and joy out of that never-failing source, the love of God. Then we shall be grounded like the deeply-rooted tree. And what can give stability in these last days but “keeping ourselves in the love of God.”

And then we come to the dimensions. We are to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height. But who knows these dimensions? It will take eternity to comprehend it all. Look at the outstretched arms of the blessed One on the Cross! Here we behold breadth — “Come unto Me all” is the message as it comes from the cross. The length of His love is from eternity to eternity. The first chapter told us of the fact that before the foundation of the world He thought of us. He loved us before we ever existed. His love has no beginning and no end. It is an eternal love with which He loveth us.

And the depth! How deep, oh! how deep did He go down! The manger? The boyhood days in Nazareth? The manhood where He had not where to lay His head? The life that spent and was spent? Ah! the depths are far deeper. Let the hours of darkness give the answer, when He descended into the deep, dark waters of judgment and God’s face was hidden from Him. Shall we ever know the depths of His love?

The height takes us into the Heaven of heavens. Look into an opened heaven! See the Glory-light! Behold there on that throne, there sits, not an angel, but a man! “We see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor.” And into that Glory He has taken us. His love could never stop short of that. Where He is there the objects of His love shall ever be with Him. “The Glory Thou hast given me I have given them.” Oh! the breadth, the length, the depth, the height!

“To know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge.” We are to know something which passeth knowledge. It is a paradox. We know that love, and the more 'we know it the more it passeth our knowledge. Shall we ever know fully the love that passeth knowledge? This ever must be our: blessed occupation to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. And what are the consequences? “That ye may be filled unto (not with) all the fullness of God.” In the measure in which we know the love of Christ and comprehend the dimensions of this love, in the measure in which we have Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith and are rooted and grounded in love, in that measure shall we be filled unto all the fullness of God.

6. The Great End Doxology. Verses 20-21.

“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 in Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

One feels like dropping the pen and leave untouched this wonderful outburst of praise given by the Holy Spirit. How blessed are these final words of the three greatest chapters of the Bible! And they are so fitting for the end of the description of God’s Masterpiece. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Often these words have been misapplied. Some one prays for help in earthly things and pleads this promise. Accordingly the suppliant may expect a great deal more than he asked for. But his prayer for increase in temporal things remains unanswered. We have a perfect right to make all our wants known before Him. He is interested in the smallest things in our life. We can come with all our earthly need to the throne of Grace and we shall never come in vain. The words in this doxology, however, have nothing to do with earthly needs and blessing. We are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing. It is for us to claim all these wonderful blessings which belong to us because we belong to Christ. Let us open our mouth wide! Ask for spiritual blessing, for the knowledge of that love which passeth knowledge; pray to be strengthened by the might of His Spirit in the inner man; pray for being filled unto all the fullness of God, yea, ask much and He will do exceeding abundantly above all that we asked. Exhaust all imagination in thinking on the glory of Christ and your glory in Him. Think of the highest, the best, the most glorious in connection with Christ and our union with Him, as well as our inheritance. And after we have come to the end of all our thinking and expectation. He will do exceeding above all we think. Glory to His Name!

“To Him be glory in the church in Christ Jesus, unto all the generations of the age of ages. Amen.” It is and ever will be eternal praise, because it is eternal glory. And the church, His Masterpiece, is the vessel of His praise. Therefore He took us up and put us into the one body “that in the ages to come He might display the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.” Could God have given a higher revelation than this? Could He say more than what He hath said in these wonderful chapters in Ephesians? May the prayer of His Spirit be answered in all who read these truths, so that His gracious purpose may be accomplished in us and through us.  

1 Administration or stewardship.

2 Literally: Joint-heirs, Joint-members and joint-partakers.

3 See also Romans xvi;25; Col i:26.

4 The best manuscripts omit "‘of our Lord Jesus Christ''; but it is of little consequence; the Father is the Father of our Lord.

5 A strange delusion it is, when men and women seek by self-surrender, prolonged prayer and fasting, etc., to obtain the manifestation of the power of the Spirit of God. We have often found these misguided souls ignorant of the Glory of God as displayed in the Person and Work of Christ. They know nothing of God’s Masterpiece.