A Sapling With Deep Roots Among Golden Veinsby JGC
3:17Ephesians 3:17
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Paul's bowed-knee prayer to the Father asks that according to the riches of His glory believers be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man so that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith and they be rooted and grounded in love. Dwelling in the heart by faith is a personal, living, abiding presence and companionship of Christ carried everywhere, received by trusting who He is and what He has done and by beholding Him as the dearest friend. Being rooted and grounded in love is being firmly established in love, having for one another the same love Christ had as God's love enters the innermost life. Christ cannot enter or remain where sin is enthroned, so the heart must be purified from pride, selfishness and every defilement and given to God in utter surrender with self crucified and dead. Being thus rooted enables believers together with all saints to comprehend the breadth and length and depth and height of the love that passes knowledge and to be filled with all the fullness of God, showing His purity, kindness and obedience in a transformed life.
Paul's Prayer Setting
Paul bowed his knees to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, praying for the believers at Ephesus that according to the riches of His glory they would be granted to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ might dwell in their hearts by faith and they being rooted and grounded in love might comprehend with all saints the breadth and length and depth and height and know by living experience the love of Christ which passes knowledge, which cannot be explained but comes into the heart, that they might be filled with all the fullness of God. This indwelling is the work God does in everyone who is saved, so that Christ is revealed in and through them. The prayer is to be approached humbly and reverently as a solemn call to God.
God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that is asked or thought according to the power that works within, with glory to Him in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages. After thinking of many wants and asking God for wisdom and help in every point, what is failed to be presented in asking is to be supplied according to necessities. This assurance rests on the high and holy One who inhabits eternity and changes not, and it is granted when men and women realize their own weakness and entire dependence upon God, producing a standard of Christianity very different from what now appears, because God is love and His nature revealed in His holy law is an expression of His love. It means much for today, reproving hard-spiritedness that comes from being strangers to the working of the Holy Spirit and calling for a great reformation in lives, words, works and spiritual understanding and for daily breathing heaven's atmosphere and catching the inspiration of the angels in the heavenly courts, and it is the goal of the solemn work of the gospel minister, requiring not preaching alone but self-sacrificing well-directed personal labor as a servant of the people, being broken on the Rock to be fashioned as vessels unto honor as laborers together with God for saving souls for whom Christ died. The truth that works by love and purifies the soul is to be cherished and understood as diligent students of what God has revealed, shunning all spiritualistic ideas of God and leaving unrevealed mysteries alone.
The prayer belongs to the mystery hidden from the beginning of the world in God who created all things by Jesus Christ and now revealed, that by the church the manifold wisdom of God according to the eternal purpose in Christ Jesus the Lord might be made known to principalities and powers in heavenly places, in whom there is boldness and access with confidence by faith. Christ living inside believers through faith is the way God gives power and efficiency to the church on earth, kept up by communication between heavenly intelligences and His children. Divine ministration is needed for this, so communication is kept up between heaven and God's children, with angels from above sent to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation as faithful warriors partaking of Christ's suffering, and those in whom Christ dwells as God's family, very near His heart of love though subject to temptations and trials, must be fed with meat in due season through a connection established between them and the church above, for God cares for His human creation as a husbandman cares for a vineyard.
The chapter belongs to believers now because the end is near, calling for a world-wide work to be done in earnest and in a short time to proclaim the truth and the message of warning and salvation, carrying the burden Paul carried. It requires arousing to the true position and to the swift judgments coming on the world, putting away alienation, disunion, self-seeking, and working at cross-purposes with God, and taking up God's work intelligently and unitedly as with one voice. God will not be trifled with, His judgments are reproof, Christ may come suddenly and find the unready, and there will be no second probation, so now while it is called today those who hear His voice must turn fully to Him and He will have mercy and abundantly pardon. This inward experience through strengthening of the inner person by the Holy Spirit, enabling believers to understand Christ's love and to be filled with God's fullness, is needed to make straight paths amid the perils of the last days, giving a higher, deeper wisdom than man's to guide, with the Spirit of Christ inside like blood in the body circulating as a vitalizing power, requiring fear of rebellion against God's Word as guide, certainty of being on the Lord's side with the truth as it is in Jesus, and security anywhere with the grace of God in the soul, instead of putting finite men where God should be and instead of a debating spirit with the Spirit of God, through experimental knowledge of Christ as Saviour, knowing by faith what it is to have sins pardoned and to be born again. All are to study Ephesians 2 and 3 by looking to God and seeking wisdom from Him in most earnest prayer, learning as no human voice or counsel can teach the way of the Lord, seeing how transgression of the law caused the price of the blood of the Son of the infinite God to redeem the sinner, hating the sins that wounded Jesus, and preserving a contrite heart in viewing Jesus as a compassionate tender High Priest. Being rooted and grounded means being settled, rooted and grounded in the truth and moving from principle rather than going backward, a steadfastness required because many will be brought into most trying positions in a time of national perplexity and shaking when everything that can be shaken will be shaken, needing deep humility, preparation for the day of God, proving and purifying and refining as gold until His image is reflected and the dross consumed, and more of the spirit of self-denial and willingness to endure and suffer for the truth's sake, without which steps will surely slide, while those whose lives are hidden with Christ in God remain established when everything that can be shaken is shaken.
The prayer is to be read carefully and prayerfully and taken personally by every minister in every conference, ordained or not, and it is a lesson for all teachers, all ministers of the gospel, and all who occupy responsible positions in the work of God. It calls for earnest travail for souls rather than casual interest, for earnest heart searching and prayerful seeking to know God and the power of His grace, so that religious history and experience is not tame and commonplace but marked by grace and the decided working of the power of God with human effort, resting labor for God on a living experience of Christ and God's power. It requires conversion manifest in spirit and in action, setting a right example in the family, in the school, in the church, and in the world, so that those who manifest imperfections of character and act the spirit of the unbeliever and lead others in the wrong direction must become converted or take up some other calling where they will not mislead others. Its purpose in Bible study is humble seeking of the love of God, with Christ living within the heart through faith and the life firmly established in love, leading to comprehension together with all believers of the breadth and length and depth and height of truth, personal knowledge of the surpassing love of Christ, and fullness of God, in contrast to studying to gather sharp points to meet opponents, which makes men sarcastic, leaves God out, excites a love for debate, and does not increase spirituality and humbleness of mind.
Christ Dwells by Faith
To dwell in the heart by faith is to have Christ as a personal, living, abiding presence and companion carried everywhere, received by trusting who He is and what He has done in redemption. It is a day-by-day living experience of connection with Him, cherishing Him as the dearest and most honored friend who must not be grieved, continually contemplating and beholding Him. This beholding brings thoughts into captivity to Him and shapes the whole character, ennobling and sanctifying the entire person. He abides as a living, present Helper with believers always even to the end of the world, giving comfort and hope in His care, love, death and intercession. The heart so occupied becomes a cleansed temple for the Holy Spirit, with self given unreservedly to Him and the keeping of the soul committed to God as to a faithful Creator.
The faith by which He dwells rests on truth rather than changing feelings and must hold firm through spiritual darkness, doubt and opposition. It is known not by feeling but by obedience to His holy Word, by personally appropriating the rich promises and believing that Jesus abides within. Such faith gives settled assurance and peace, with confidence that Jesus receives and loves the believer and readiness to listen to every whisper of His Spirit. It keeps believers rooted and grounded rather than tossed about by emotions, undisturbed by temptations and arguments of the deceiver. It leaves no place for doubt and unbelief, making the most trying experiences the most blessed by preparing the soul for future attacks and fiery trials.
The indwelling comes through the Holy Spirit strengthening the inner life, and the Spirit's presence in the heart is the beginning of eternal life. It comes through constant communion with God by His Word as the bread of life and water of salvation, which gives spiritual strength. Christ supplies the life-blood of the heart and the Holy Spirit gives nerve power, strengthening the inner person with might, making alive to living hope and filling with the energizing power of a new nature. It is received by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God, a vital saving union that makes believers partakers of the divine nature and one with Christ as Christ is one with God. His life then circulates through believers just as blood circulates through the body as a vitalizing current, imparting power from the Source of all power to be given to others.
Though now in heaven at the right hand of God as Advocate making intercession, He thinks of tempted ones individually and knows every necessity. He walked on earth with divinity clothed with humanity as a suffering tempted man, tempted in all points like us, and therefore knows how to succor those who are tempted. Dwelling by faith means opening the heart to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness with no breath of doubt, grasping rich blessings by faith, talking courage and strength, practicing the instruction, and bearing a living testimony under all circumstances.
This indwelling is the only safeguard against evil, for faith in His righteousness lets divine love expose selfishness as repulsive and creates desire to have it removed. His presence fills the soul with hatred of evil so that spirit, thoughts and aims become one with Him, softening the heart and causing temptation to lose its power while grace transforms the character. It happens when self dies and soul, heart and life come under the controlling influence of the Spirit, building on Christ the Rock and building for eternity. So built, the believer is safe when the coming storm wrenches every timber and proves rottenness in all not so built, and the inward presence is a fortress against opposing influences to give up truth. Being thus settled, rooted and grounded in truth gives strength of character to resist temptation and keep interest in heavenly things, kept by learning in the school of Christ and by praying twice daily and still more earnestly where surroundings are unfavorable.
Rooted and Grounded Meaning
To be rooted and grounded in love is to be firmly established in love, having for one another the same love Christ had, a privilege beyond anything language can express. This takes place when Christ lives within through faith by the working of the leaven of truth, with the inner life made strong by the Spirit according to the riches of God's glory. When God's love enters the innermost life it enlarges comprehension because it has been tasted, brings understanding of its full measure and personal knowledge of a love that passes knowledge unto being filled with all the fullness of God. In the home this is fulfilled when parents are diligent students of the Scriptures and learners of Christ and keep the law of love and kindness upon their lips and in their lives, so that a sanctified love binds parents and children together and youth grow up established in the faith and rooted and grounded in divine love. Hearts that remain uncleansed from inherited and cultivated wrong tendencies and inherent sin cannot receive Christ or carry on a work of grace, for the heart must be purified and cleansed from sin or Christ cannot enter.
The same rooted and grounded condition means being firmly established in truth, in faith, and in Christ like a tree whose deep roots give strength to withstand a storm or tempest, or like a house on the Rock. This firm grounding gives power to withstand the enemy's temptations, to resist deceptive teachings, to remain faithful to God, and to stand through trials that test faith. When the heart is filled with the truth of God's word, its precepts and promises give power to resist temptation, and Satan is baffled and defeated. Those who are not rooted in truth may walk in darkness, complain, and stray into forbidden paths, and church members and Sabbath-school workers are to help the wavering and the young stand firm and be settled and firmly established in faith. This rootedness requires continual growth toward the full stature of Christ with daily progress in knowledge and spiritual strength, because failing to grow stronger means going backward and suffering loss.
Spiritual growth by taking root in Christ comes as a plant draws life from the soil and receives sunshine, dew, and rain through the Holy Spirit, with healing and growth as hearts are fixed on Christ who comes like rain. That rooted condition requires concentrated, confined effort rather than spreading so far that no fruit is seen, for as roots must be confined to a certain space for the plant to perfect its blossoms, workers must know their assigned work and put mind and heart into it with activity guided in the right direction. When roots strike down deep they grow upward, characters are beautified, and lives entwine closely around God.
Being rooted and grounded in love cures a hard, judicial, sharp, critical, faultfinding spirit that climbs into the judgment seat to pronounce sentence, strives for the first place, and makes many hearts sore. It guards equally against the false religion of sentimentalism, which is equally dangerous, making believers sound in the faith under Christ as the true leader instead of following the fallen angel. This firm foundation in love enables believers with all saints to grasp its breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge unto being filled with all the fullness of God.
Being rooted and grounded means thorough, settled character with stick-to-it-iveness that overcomes lost years, becoming easily wearied, and loving change. It means not letting the mind be divided or in another place but putting all that there is of oneself into labor, not moving by jerks or starts but moving cautiously, understandingly, and in the fear of God, from principle rather than from impulse and inclination. It involves asking God in faith for help, praying much, staying in the simplicity of the work, not thinking too highly of self but being modest in self-estimate, so that life does not prove a failure with God as Counselor. It is standing fast in the Lord, holding the beginning of confidence firm to the end while keeping Christ as the pattern before the eyes, resisting self-importance and besetting sins and pressing through opposition and difficulty in work in order to endure to the end and receive the unfading crown of life, holding firmly to light given and growing in confidence that God is leading and teaching.
Knowing Love and Divine Fullness
Being rooted and grounded in love enables believers, together with all saints, to comprehend the breadth and length and depth and height of Christ's love and to know by living experience the love that passes knowledge. That love cannot be explained but comes into the heart, joining finite people to the infinite God. It belongs to the Christian privilege Paul prayed the Ephesian believers would understand, when bowing his knees to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, asking that according to the riches of His glory they be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man so that Christ may dwell in hearts by faith. Such comprehension leads to being filled with all the fullness of God. Confidence closes the prayer that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that is asked or thought according to the power that works within, supplying even what is failed to be presented in asking after thinking of many wants and asking for wisdom and help in every point, with glory to Him in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages. The prayer is a solemn call to approach God humbly and reverently.
Knowing that surpassing love is gained not by waiting for feeling but by faith laying hold of inner strength. The feeling wanted does not come by waiting for feeling but by faith in Jesus Christ laying hold of that inner strength, bringing prevailing power as when Moses lifted his hands and Israel prevailed, with righteousness and truth wrought within and minds drawn to God and heaven. It is gained by personal, living, appropriating faith that trusts Him and considers who He is and what He has done in the plan of redemption, appreciating His sacrifice and condescension and cultivating a sense of this great Gift. Realizing His abiding presence and divine companionship carried wherever one goes brings thoughts into captivity to Him and shapes the whole character, with experience in divine things growing in proportion to the vividness of the sense of His companionship, as Enoch walked with God. As the source of divine love He puts His love into the hearts of disciples to be received and imparted, and because they themselves have tasted it their comprehension enlarges, makes them steadfast and persevering, enables them to live out gospel principles day by day and reveal to one another the love He revealed in a world of selfishness and sin, a comprehension that will be still more fully opened in the eternal ages. The baptism pledge is to live this love, and a life spent arousing strife and dissension proves sanctification through the truth has never been learned.
Such knowledge leads to being filled with all the fullness of God, a privilege available to sons and daughters through faith in promises and Christ's merits. This belongs with being strengthened by the Spirit within, sharing in Christ's sufferings, and showing His love through fervent devotion to His cause. It rests on a life rooted and grounded in love, trusting Christ and holding daily communion with Him and thirsting for righteousness, for it is not merely knowing the truth. As Christ's character fills the life His love is expressed in obedience and the believer reflects His character to others, changed into His likeness by continually beholding Him. When people accept freely offered grace and cooperate with His work in them, Christ's presence in thoughts and hearts gives purpose to put away every sin, and as sin is removed the heart can be filled with the fullness of God and His love.
The indwelling imparts power from the Source of all power to be given to others, His life circulating through believers just as blood circulates through the body as a vitalizing current. As people receive divine power through faith and cooperate with Christ, their human abilities become effective for good. When Christ is enthroned in the heart He supplies physical, mental, and moral strength to make Him known, a strength depending on God and not self-confidence, giving power to carry out sacred responsibilities. This presence is their power and life, bringing them into union with God through Christ, and their union with Christ and with one another is necessary for the church's perfection. It is the way God gives power and efficiency to the church on earth, kept up by communication between heavenly intelligences and His children as the church makes known the fellowship of the hidden mystery and the manifold wisdom of God. Being rooted and grounded therefore requires every church member learning to work and standing in his lot and place as a burden-bearer, cherishing the fixed conviction that the truth for this time is a life-and-death question and not merely a round of ceremonies, and being filled with determined purpose to receive power in order to impart it.
Heart Prepared to Receive
Christ cannot enter or remain where sin is enthroned, so the heart must be purified from inherited and cultivated wrong tendencies and inherent sin, or the work of grace cannot be carried on. In a heart cleansed from moral impurity, He dwells to ennoble and sanctify the whole person, making that person a cleansed temple for the Holy Spirit. Unbelief and cherished sin hold Him out of the inner sanctuary of the soul, leaving the soul temple defiled and in danger of entire corruption. That cleansing reaches every defilement — pride, selfishness, suspicion, envy — refining and fitting the heart as His abode.
Receiving Him requires utter surrender, with self crucified and dead and the whole heart, soul, strength and life given to God with Him supreme and first. The will is placed on God's side in continual surrender, so that as the believer remains surrendered Christ works within to will and to do what pleases God. He dwells in the hearts of all who are meek and lowly when the soul surrenders itself to the will of God through Christ the reconciling Saviour. No finite man is to be put where God should be, for no mortal can be Saviour; dependence must be on divine aid alone, received by determined holding on in prayer until Christ rules in the heart by faith and makes every crooked thing straight. That union is entered by self-renunciation, faith and obedience, with renunciation of own will and utter dependence of a proud heart naturally at enmity with Him, and is preserved only by continual earnest painstaking effort, standing on guard, praying for help, and resolutely resisting every inclination to sin within and without.
The faith by which He dwells works by love and purifies the soul, as truth implanted in the heart and tended by grace. When He abides within, His Spirit purifies and gives life to the soul, and truth held within corrects the life. That inward renewal changes malice, hatred, jealousy and selfishness into kindness, patience, longsuffering, benevolence and love, leading to love for God supremely and neighbor as self, delight in His law, and obedience from the heart. So held, faith brings peace to the heart and leads in the path of self-denial and self-sacrifice, exercising the soul unto righteousness and godliness with healthy spiritual growth.
The indwelling is a day by day living experience, not mere assent to truth or hearing the great truths of the Word, but living the truth daily. It is kept by faith and continual surrender, shutting in with God and surrendering all to Him, meeting Him at the altar of self-sacrifice where searching heavenly light reveals the heart and its great need of an abiding Christ. Holding fast profession, laying aside controversy and strife, and refusing idleness which leaves no place for Him are required to maintain it, with diligent searching and prayer asking whether He dwells within. It is the privilege and duty of every child of God to obtain this experience and go forth in His Spirit and mind, cooperating with the divine in self-denial and self-sacrifice.
Transformed Life and Witness
When Christ lives inside by faith the soul is filled with love for Him and joy in fellowship with Him, and that love becomes the spring of action so the person clings to Him and forgets self. Obedience is then not a labor to earn heaven nor a calculation of the least that must be done, but a willing surrender that aims at full conformity to His will. His presence is proved in character and daily life by wholehearted obedience and faithful work for others, including godly example in the family and seeking the conversion of relatives and friends. Day by day self-denial and sanctification give evidence that He is abiding within, as believers battle and overcome besetting sins and conquer inherited and cultivated faults through His strength. This instruction is to be practiced and borne witness to in every circumstance, and sanctification so wrought does not close the mind to knowledge but enlarges it to search for truth while knowledge of God's will advances sanctification.
His abiding makes believers one in Him in greatest harmony, heart with heart, for as they approach the great center He becomes their unity and the nearer they come to Him the nearer they come to each other. Where He is not abiding there are discord and strife and little effort to draw near to one another, but where He dwells discord and strife are not found among those sanctified through the truth. Selfishness in all its forms is banished from the church, and harmony, unity and brotherly love appear as in the church first established, with the whole church kindled into a sacrificial flame, every Christian casting self-denial upon the altar and devising fresh methods to reach poor sinners. National prejudice and jealousy are broken down, hearts are blended by the same molding power, physicians and other workers put away selfish ambition and desire for mastery, respect one another's work and serve together under the one Head, each doing a part without crowding another. Faith and love must be sought for this end, dependence resting on Christ within rather than on any human being, with lessons from the divine Teacher making partakers of the divine nature who work in harmony with Bible principles and reveal His power in renewed lives.
This inward strengthening and indwelling is the goal of the gospel minister's solemn work to make all see the fellowship of the mystery, requiring not preaching alone but self-sacrificing personal labor as a servant of the people, broken on the Rock and fashioned as a vessel unto honor. It is the privilege and duty of every child of God to obtain this day-by-day living experience through connection with Christ and then go forth in His Spirit and with His mind, cooperating with the divine to bear the message of God's love, looking to the Author and Finisher of faith as the Pattern in self-denial and self-sacrifice. For the minister it gives partaking of the divine nature with fresh inspiring truth in living prayer and preaching that awakens zeal, for without it prayers become lifeless repetitions and sermons dry sameness that lull members to sleep and prove the worker unconverted and unfit to feed the flock. For the teacher Christ must live in the heart with His love abiding within, producing a self-denying self-sacrificing spirit, since education and scientific knowledge alone do not fit one to guide children and youth wisely and lovingly.
In the home this dwelling establishes believers and roots and grounds them in divine love when parents are diligent students of Scripture and learners of Christ, keeping the law of love and kindness on their lips and revealing His grace and truth so that sanctified love binds parents and children together. God's love must enter the innermost life of the home by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, enabling parents to teach children the patience and kindness they need. Each member of the family is to seek and know this indwelling with earnest humble hearts through faithful performance of home duties, bringing spiritual progress and perfection of character, giving in the father's house evidence of fitness for abundant church work and for going forth with the whole armor as faithful soldiers for mission abroad. Christ within reveals His beauty in daily actions with simplicity and godly sincerity, tempering natural strength with His meekness and gentleness, while speech that yields to Satan's promptings in difficult moments shows He is not abiding within.
His abiding makes a person wise in God's sight and brings true religion as joy in the soul, a living outflow of praise and glory to Jesus with love flowing out to others. Instead of long faces, gloom and despondency, sadness and discouragement are put away in trust in Jesus, and when a brother looks on the dark side the believer looks on the bright side and speaks courage to lift him out of despondency. The Lord living and ruling within gives reason to place confidence in God, sustains through trial, and shapes character in His purity and holiness so that sin becomes more offensive and His purity more desirable. His presence is to be made visible in character and life as believers gather divine light from the Bible and shine it to those in darkness, representing Jesus in a consistent life, knowing the reasons for faith and walking with Him as the light of the world and as God's temple reflecting His character.
Being rooted and grounded means being established in the faith by the teachings of the Word through personal individual experience in which He is received and formed within as the hope of glory, purifying every defect of character by working in spiritual lines, linking with Him and walking by faith and prayer. Truly consecrated persons with His love abiding by faith cheerfully do duty according to His will, leaving extravagant habits and indulgence of appetite and passion, standing on self-denial and temperance, following God's leadings and yielding the will to His so the temple is holy. Deep-rooted principle will not be moved by temptation but keeps the true children of God in purity and holiness while looking for the coming of the Son of Man, honoring truth and duty under contempt. Where this rooting is absent the lack is revealed in self-centered influence, gloom, harshness and unconverted profession, showing Christ is not abiding within.
Paul's bowed-knee prayer to the Father asks that according to the riches of His glory believers be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man so that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith and they be rooted and grounded in love. Dwelling in the heart by faith is a personal, living, abiding presence and companionship of Christ carried everywhere, received by trusting who He is and what He has done and by beholding Him as the dearest friend. Being rooted and grounded in love is being firmly established in love, having for one another the same love Christ had as God's love enters the innermost life. Christ cannot enter or remain where sin is enthroned, so the heart must be purified from pride, selfishness and every defilement and given to God in utter surrender with self crucified and dead. Being thus rooted enables believers together with all saints to comprehend the breadth and length and depth and height of the love that passes knowledge and to be filled with all the fullness of God, showing His purity, kindness and obedience in a transformed life.
Paul's Prayer Setting
Paul bowed his knees to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, praying for the believers at Ephesus that according to the riches of His glory they would be granted to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ might dwell in their hearts by faith and they being rooted and grounded in love might comprehend with all saints the breadth and length and depth and height and know by living experience the love of Christ which passes knowledge, which cannot be explained but comes into the heart, that they might be filled with all the fullness of God. This indwelling is the work God does in everyone who is saved, so that Christ is revealed in and through them. The prayer is to be approached humbly and reverently as a solemn call to God.
God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that is asked or thought according to the power that works within, with glory to Him in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages. After thinking of many wants and asking God for wisdom and help in every point, what is failed to be presented in asking is to be supplied according to necessities. This assurance rests on the high and holy One who inhabits eternity and changes not, and it is granted when men and women realize their own weakness and entire dependence upon God, producing a standard of Christianity very different from what now appears, because God is love and His nature revealed in His holy law is an expression of His love. It means much for today, reproving hard-spiritedness that comes from being strangers to the working of the Holy Spirit and calling for a great reformation in lives, words, works and spiritual understanding and for daily breathing heaven's atmosphere and catching the inspiration of the angels in the heavenly courts, and it is the goal of the solemn work of the gospel minister, requiring not preaching alone but self-sacrificing well-directed personal labor as a servant of the people, being broken on the Rock to be fashioned as vessels unto honor as laborers together with God for saving souls for whom Christ died. The truth that works by love and purifies the soul is to be cherished and understood as diligent students of what God has revealed, shunning all spiritualistic ideas of God and leaving unrevealed mysteries alone.
The prayer belongs to the mystery hidden from the beginning of the world in God who created all things by Jesus Christ and now revealed, that by the church the manifold wisdom of God according to the eternal purpose in Christ Jesus the Lord might be made known to principalities and powers in heavenly places, in whom there is boldness and access with confidence by faith. Christ living inside believers through faith is the way God gives power and efficiency to the church on earth, kept up by communication between heavenly intelligences and His children. Divine ministration is needed for this, so communication is kept up between heaven and God's children, with angels from above sent to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation as faithful warriors partaking of Christ's suffering, and those in whom Christ dwells as God's family, very near His heart of love though subject to temptations and trials, must be fed with meat in due season through a connection established between them and the church above, for God cares for His human creation as a husbandman cares for a vineyard.
The chapter belongs to believers now because the end is near, calling for a world-wide work to be done in earnest and in a short time to proclaim the truth and the message of warning and salvation, carrying the burden Paul carried. It requires arousing to the true position and to the swift judgments coming on the world, putting away alienation, disunion, self-seeking, and working at cross-purposes with God, and taking up God's work intelligently and unitedly as with one voice. God will not be trifled with, His judgments are reproof, Christ may come suddenly and find the unready, and there will be no second probation, so now while it is called today those who hear His voice must turn fully to Him and He will have mercy and abundantly pardon. This inward experience through strengthening of the inner person by the Holy Spirit, enabling believers to understand Christ's love and to be filled with God's fullness, is needed to make straight paths amid the perils of the last days, giving a higher, deeper wisdom than man's to guide, with the Spirit of Christ inside like blood in the body circulating as a vitalizing power, requiring fear of rebellion against God's Word as guide, certainty of being on the Lord's side with the truth as it is in Jesus, and security anywhere with the grace of God in the soul, instead of putting finite men where God should be and instead of a debating spirit with the Spirit of God, through experimental knowledge of Christ as Saviour, knowing by faith what it is to have sins pardoned and to be born again. All are to study Ephesians 2 and 3 by looking to God and seeking wisdom from Him in most earnest prayer, learning as no human voice or counsel can teach the way of the Lord, seeing how transgression of the law caused the price of the blood of the Son of the infinite God to redeem the sinner, hating the sins that wounded Jesus, and preserving a contrite heart in viewing Jesus as a compassionate tender High Priest. Being rooted and grounded means being settled, rooted and grounded in the truth and moving from principle rather than going backward, a steadfastness required because many will be brought into most trying positions in a time of national perplexity and shaking when everything that can be shaken will be shaken, needing deep humility, preparation for the day of God, proving and purifying and refining as gold until His image is reflected and the dross consumed, and more of the spirit of self-denial and willingness to endure and suffer for the truth's sake, without which steps will surely slide, while those whose lives are hidden with Christ in God remain established when everything that can be shaken is shaken.
The prayer is to be read carefully and prayerfully and taken personally by every minister in every conference, ordained or not, and it is a lesson for all teachers, all ministers of the gospel, and all who occupy responsible positions in the work of God. It calls for earnest travail for souls rather than casual interest, for earnest heart searching and prayerful seeking to know God and the power of His grace, so that religious history and experience is not tame and commonplace but marked by grace and the decided working of the power of God with human effort, resting labor for God on a living experience of Christ and God's power. It requires conversion manifest in spirit and in action, setting a right example in the family, in the school, in the church, and in the world, so that those who manifest imperfections of character and act the spirit of the unbeliever and lead others in the wrong direction must become converted or take up some other calling where they will not mislead others. Its purpose in Bible study is humble seeking of the love of God, with Christ living within the heart through faith and the life firmly established in love, leading to comprehension together with all believers of the breadth and length and depth and height of truth, personal knowledge of the surpassing love of Christ, and fullness of God, in contrast to studying to gather sharp points to meet opponents, which makes men sarcastic, leaves God out, excites a love for debate, and does not increase spirituality and humbleness of mind.
Christ Dwells by Faith
To dwell in the heart by faith is to have Christ as a personal, living, abiding presence and companion carried everywhere, received by trusting who He is and what He has done in redemption. It is a day-by-day living experience of connection with Him, cherishing Him as the dearest and most honored friend who must not be grieved, continually contemplating and beholding Him. This beholding brings thoughts into captivity to Him and shapes the whole character, ennobling and sanctifying the entire person. He abides as a living, present Helper with believers always even to the end of the world, giving comfort and hope in His care, love, death and intercession. The heart so occupied becomes a cleansed temple for the Holy Spirit, with self given unreservedly to Him and the keeping of the soul committed to God as to a faithful Creator.
The faith by which He dwells rests on truth rather than changing feelings and must hold firm through spiritual darkness, doubt and opposition. It is known not by feeling but by obedience to His holy Word, by personally appropriating the rich promises and believing that Jesus abides within. Such faith gives settled assurance and peace, with confidence that Jesus receives and loves the believer and readiness to listen to every whisper of His Spirit. It keeps believers rooted and grounded rather than tossed about by emotions, undisturbed by temptations and arguments of the deceiver. It leaves no place for doubt and unbelief, making the most trying experiences the most blessed by preparing the soul for future attacks and fiery trials.
The indwelling comes through the Holy Spirit strengthening the inner life, and the Spirit's presence in the heart is the beginning of eternal life. It comes through constant communion with God by His Word as the bread of life and water of salvation, which gives spiritual strength. Christ supplies the life-blood of the heart and the Holy Spirit gives nerve power, strengthening the inner person with might, making alive to living hope and filling with the energizing power of a new nature. It is received by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God, a vital saving union that makes believers partakers of the divine nature and one with Christ as Christ is one with God. His life then circulates through believers just as blood circulates through the body as a vitalizing current, imparting power from the Source of all power to be given to others.
Though now in heaven at the right hand of God as Advocate making intercession, He thinks of tempted ones individually and knows every necessity. He walked on earth with divinity clothed with humanity as a suffering tempted man, tempted in all points like us, and therefore knows how to succor those who are tempted. Dwelling by faith means opening the heart to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness with no breath of doubt, grasping rich blessings by faith, talking courage and strength, practicing the instruction, and bearing a living testimony under all circumstances.
This indwelling is the only safeguard against evil, for faith in His righteousness lets divine love expose selfishness as repulsive and creates desire to have it removed. His presence fills the soul with hatred of evil so that spirit, thoughts and aims become one with Him, softening the heart and causing temptation to lose its power while grace transforms the character. It happens when self dies and soul, heart and life come under the controlling influence of the Spirit, building on Christ the Rock and building for eternity. So built, the believer is safe when the coming storm wrenches every timber and proves rottenness in all not so built, and the inward presence is a fortress against opposing influences to give up truth. Being thus settled, rooted and grounded in truth gives strength of character to resist temptation and keep interest in heavenly things, kept by learning in the school of Christ and by praying twice daily and still more earnestly where surroundings are unfavorable.
Rooted and Grounded Meaning
To be rooted and grounded in love is to be firmly established in love, having for one another the same love Christ had, a privilege beyond anything language can express. This takes place when Christ lives within through faith by the working of the leaven of truth, with the inner life made strong by the Spirit according to the riches of God's glory. When God's love enters the innermost life it enlarges comprehension because it has been tasted, brings understanding of its full measure and personal knowledge of a love that passes knowledge unto being filled with all the fullness of God. In the home this is fulfilled when parents are diligent students of the Scriptures and learners of Christ and keep the law of love and kindness upon their lips and in their lives, so that a sanctified love binds parents and children together and youth grow up established in the faith and rooted and grounded in divine love. Hearts that remain uncleansed from inherited and cultivated wrong tendencies and inherent sin cannot receive Christ or carry on a work of grace, for the heart must be purified and cleansed from sin or Christ cannot enter.
The same rooted and grounded condition means being firmly established in truth, in faith, and in Christ like a tree whose deep roots give strength to withstand a storm or tempest, or like a house on the Rock. This firm grounding gives power to withstand the enemy's temptations, to resist deceptive teachings, to remain faithful to God, and to stand through trials that test faith. When the heart is filled with the truth of God's word, its precepts and promises give power to resist temptation, and Satan is baffled and defeated. Those who are not rooted in truth may walk in darkness, complain, and stray into forbidden paths, and church members and Sabbath-school workers are to help the wavering and the young stand firm and be settled and firmly established in faith. This rootedness requires continual growth toward the full stature of Christ with daily progress in knowledge and spiritual strength, because failing to grow stronger means going backward and suffering loss.
Spiritual growth by taking root in Christ comes as a plant draws life from the soil and receives sunshine, dew, and rain through the Holy Spirit, with healing and growth as hearts are fixed on Christ who comes like rain. That rooted condition requires concentrated, confined effort rather than spreading so far that no fruit is seen, for as roots must be confined to a certain space for the plant to perfect its blossoms, workers must know their assigned work and put mind and heart into it with activity guided in the right direction. When roots strike down deep they grow upward, characters are beautified, and lives entwine closely around God.
Being rooted and grounded in love cures a hard, judicial, sharp, critical, faultfinding spirit that climbs into the judgment seat to pronounce sentence, strives for the first place, and makes many hearts sore. It guards equally against the false religion of sentimentalism, which is equally dangerous, making believers sound in the faith under Christ as the true leader instead of following the fallen angel. This firm foundation in love enables believers with all saints to grasp its breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge unto being filled with all the fullness of God.
Being rooted and grounded means thorough, settled character with stick-to-it-iveness that overcomes lost years, becoming easily wearied, and loving change. It means not letting the mind be divided or in another place but putting all that there is of oneself into labor, not moving by jerks or starts but moving cautiously, understandingly, and in the fear of God, from principle rather than from impulse and inclination. It involves asking God in faith for help, praying much, staying in the simplicity of the work, not thinking too highly of self but being modest in self-estimate, so that life does not prove a failure with God as Counselor. It is standing fast in the Lord, holding the beginning of confidence firm to the end while keeping Christ as the pattern before the eyes, resisting self-importance and besetting sins and pressing through opposition and difficulty in work in order to endure to the end and receive the unfading crown of life, holding firmly to light given and growing in confidence that God is leading and teaching.
Knowing Love and Divine Fullness
Being rooted and grounded in love enables believers, together with all saints, to comprehend the breadth and length and depth and height of Christ's love and to know by living experience the love that passes knowledge. That love cannot be explained but comes into the heart, joining finite people to the infinite God. It belongs to the Christian privilege Paul prayed the Ephesian believers would understand, when bowing his knees to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, asking that according to the riches of His glory they be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man so that Christ may dwell in hearts by faith. Such comprehension leads to being filled with all the fullness of God. Confidence closes the prayer that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that is asked or thought according to the power that works within, supplying even what is failed to be presented in asking after thinking of many wants and asking for wisdom and help in every point, with glory to Him in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages. The prayer is a solemn call to approach God humbly and reverently.
Knowing that surpassing love is gained not by waiting for feeling but by faith laying hold of inner strength. The feeling wanted does not come by waiting for feeling but by faith in Jesus Christ laying hold of that inner strength, bringing prevailing power as when Moses lifted his hands and Israel prevailed, with righteousness and truth wrought within and minds drawn to God and heaven. It is gained by personal, living, appropriating faith that trusts Him and considers who He is and what He has done in the plan of redemption, appreciating His sacrifice and condescension and cultivating a sense of this great Gift. Realizing His abiding presence and divine companionship carried wherever one goes brings thoughts into captivity to Him and shapes the whole character, with experience in divine things growing in proportion to the vividness of the sense of His companionship, as Enoch walked with God. As the source of divine love He puts His love into the hearts of disciples to be received and imparted, and because they themselves have tasted it their comprehension enlarges, makes them steadfast and persevering, enables them to live out gospel principles day by day and reveal to one another the love He revealed in a world of selfishness and sin, a comprehension that will be still more fully opened in the eternal ages. The baptism pledge is to live this love, and a life spent arousing strife and dissension proves sanctification through the truth has never been learned.
Such knowledge leads to being filled with all the fullness of God, a privilege available to sons and daughters through faith in promises and Christ's merits. This belongs with being strengthened by the Spirit within, sharing in Christ's sufferings, and showing His love through fervent devotion to His cause. It rests on a life rooted and grounded in love, trusting Christ and holding daily communion with Him and thirsting for righteousness, for it is not merely knowing the truth. As Christ's character fills the life His love is expressed in obedience and the believer reflects His character to others, changed into His likeness by continually beholding Him. When people accept freely offered grace and cooperate with His work in them, Christ's presence in thoughts and hearts gives purpose to put away every sin, and as sin is removed the heart can be filled with the fullness of God and His love.
The indwelling imparts power from the Source of all power to be given to others, His life circulating through believers just as blood circulates through the body as a vitalizing current. As people receive divine power through faith and cooperate with Christ, their human abilities become effective for good. When Christ is enthroned in the heart He supplies physical, mental, and moral strength to make Him known, a strength depending on God and not self-confidence, giving power to carry out sacred responsibilities. This presence is their power and life, bringing them into union with God through Christ, and their union with Christ and with one another is necessary for the church's perfection. It is the way God gives power and efficiency to the church on earth, kept up by communication between heavenly intelligences and His children as the church makes known the fellowship of the hidden mystery and the manifold wisdom of God. Being rooted and grounded therefore requires every church member learning to work and standing in his lot and place as a burden-bearer, cherishing the fixed conviction that the truth for this time is a life-and-death question and not merely a round of ceremonies, and being filled with determined purpose to receive power in order to impart it.
Heart Prepared to Receive
Christ cannot enter or remain where sin is enthroned, so the heart must be purified from inherited and cultivated wrong tendencies and inherent sin, or the work of grace cannot be carried on. In a heart cleansed from moral impurity, He dwells to ennoble and sanctify the whole person, making that person a cleansed temple for the Holy Spirit. Unbelief and cherished sin hold Him out of the inner sanctuary of the soul, leaving the soul temple defiled and in danger of entire corruption. That cleansing reaches every defilement — pride, selfishness, suspicion, envy — refining and fitting the heart as His abode.
Receiving Him requires utter surrender, with self crucified and dead and the whole heart, soul, strength and life given to God with Him supreme and first. The will is placed on God's side in continual surrender, so that as the believer remains surrendered Christ works within to will and to do what pleases God. He dwells in the hearts of all who are meek and lowly when the soul surrenders itself to the will of God through Christ the reconciling Saviour. No finite man is to be put where God should be, for no mortal can be Saviour; dependence must be on divine aid alone, received by determined holding on in prayer until Christ rules in the heart by faith and makes every crooked thing straight. That union is entered by self-renunciation, faith and obedience, with renunciation of own will and utter dependence of a proud heart naturally at enmity with Him, and is preserved only by continual earnest painstaking effort, standing on guard, praying for help, and resolutely resisting every inclination to sin within and without.
The faith by which He dwells works by love and purifies the soul, as truth implanted in the heart and tended by grace. When He abides within, His Spirit purifies and gives life to the soul, and truth held within corrects the life. That inward renewal changes malice, hatred, jealousy and selfishness into kindness, patience, longsuffering, benevolence and love, leading to love for God supremely and neighbor as self, delight in His law, and obedience from the heart. So held, faith brings peace to the heart and leads in the path of self-denial and self-sacrifice, exercising the soul unto righteousness and godliness with healthy spiritual growth.
The indwelling is a day by day living experience, not mere assent to truth or hearing the great truths of the Word, but living the truth daily. It is kept by faith and continual surrender, shutting in with God and surrendering all to Him, meeting Him at the altar of self-sacrifice where searching heavenly light reveals the heart and its great need of an abiding Christ. Holding fast profession, laying aside controversy and strife, and refusing idleness which leaves no place for Him are required to maintain it, with diligent searching and prayer asking whether He dwells within. It is the privilege and duty of every child of God to obtain this experience and go forth in His Spirit and mind, cooperating with the divine in self-denial and self-sacrifice.
Transformed Life and Witness
When Christ lives inside by faith the soul is filled with love for Him and joy in fellowship with Him, and that love becomes the spring of action so the person clings to Him and forgets self. Obedience is then not a labor to earn heaven nor a calculation of the least that must be done, but a willing surrender that aims at full conformity to His will. His presence is proved in character and daily life by wholehearted obedience and faithful work for others, including godly example in the family and seeking the conversion of relatives and friends. Day by day self-denial and sanctification give evidence that He is abiding within, as believers battle and overcome besetting sins and conquer inherited and cultivated faults through His strength. This instruction is to be practiced and borne witness to in every circumstance, and sanctification so wrought does not close the mind to knowledge but enlarges it to search for truth while knowledge of God's will advances sanctification.
His abiding makes believers one in Him in greatest harmony, heart with heart, for as they approach the great center He becomes their unity and the nearer they come to Him the nearer they come to each other. Where He is not abiding there are discord and strife and little effort to draw near to one another, but where He dwells discord and strife are not found among those sanctified through the truth. Selfishness in all its forms is banished from the church, and harmony, unity and brotherly love appear as in the church first established, with the whole church kindled into a sacrificial flame, every Christian casting self-denial upon the altar and devising fresh methods to reach poor sinners. National prejudice and jealousy are broken down, hearts are blended by the same molding power, physicians and other workers put away selfish ambition and desire for mastery, respect one another's work and serve together under the one Head, each doing a part without crowding another. Faith and love must be sought for this end, dependence resting on Christ within rather than on any human being, with lessons from the divine Teacher making partakers of the divine nature who work in harmony with Bible principles and reveal His power in renewed lives.
This inward strengthening and indwelling is the goal of the gospel minister's solemn work to make all see the fellowship of the mystery, requiring not preaching alone but self-sacrificing personal labor as a servant of the people, broken on the Rock and fashioned as a vessel unto honor. It is the privilege and duty of every child of God to obtain this day-by-day living experience through connection with Christ and then go forth in His Spirit and with His mind, cooperating with the divine to bear the message of God's love, looking to the Author and Finisher of faith as the Pattern in self-denial and self-sacrifice. For the minister it gives partaking of the divine nature with fresh inspiring truth in living prayer and preaching that awakens zeal, for without it prayers become lifeless repetitions and sermons dry sameness that lull members to sleep and prove the worker unconverted and unfit to feed the flock. For the teacher Christ must live in the heart with His love abiding within, producing a self-denying self-sacrificing spirit, since education and scientific knowledge alone do not fit one to guide children and youth wisely and lovingly.
In the home this dwelling establishes believers and roots and grounds them in divine love when parents are diligent students of Scripture and learners of Christ, keeping the law of love and kindness on their lips and revealing His grace and truth so that sanctified love binds parents and children together. God's love must enter the innermost life of the home by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, enabling parents to teach children the patience and kindness they need. Each member of the family is to seek and know this indwelling with earnest humble hearts through faithful performance of home duties, bringing spiritual progress and perfection of character, giving in the father's house evidence of fitness for abundant church work and for going forth with the whole armor as faithful soldiers for mission abroad. Christ within reveals His beauty in daily actions with simplicity and godly sincerity, tempering natural strength with His meekness and gentleness, while speech that yields to Satan's promptings in difficult moments shows He is not abiding within.
His abiding makes a person wise in God's sight and brings true religion as joy in the soul, a living outflow of praise and glory to Jesus with love flowing out to others. Instead of long faces, gloom and despondency, sadness and discouragement are put away in trust in Jesus, and when a brother looks on the dark side the believer looks on the bright side and speaks courage to lift him out of despondency. The Lord living and ruling within gives reason to place confidence in God, sustains through trial, and shapes character in His purity and holiness so that sin becomes more offensive and His purity more desirable. His presence is to be made visible in character and life as believers gather divine light from the Bible and shine it to those in darkness, representing Jesus in a consistent life, knowing the reasons for faith and walking with Him as the light of the world and as God's temple reflecting His character.
Being rooted and grounded means being established in the faith by the teachings of the Word through personal individual experience in which He is received and formed within as the hope of glory, purifying every defect of character by working in spiritual lines, linking with Him and walking by faith and prayer. Truly consecrated persons with His love abiding by faith cheerfully do duty according to His will, leaving extravagant habits and indulgence of appetite and passion, standing on self-denial and temperance, following God's leadings and yielding the will to His so the temple is holy. Deep-rooted principle will not be moved by temptation but keeps the true children of God in purity and holiness while looking for the coming of the Son of Man, honoring truth and duty under contempt. Where this rooting is absent the lack is revealed in self-centered influence, gloom, harshness and unconverted profession, showing Christ is not abiding within.