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belong to one patria,  every evil and false family, those like the Canaanites
and those of whom it could be said that they were `the tares' sown by the enemy,
these will cease to be, before the great consummation arrives.  What a blessed
picture of peace, joy and love `The Father with His family' conjures up.  `The
Tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them' stresses the glorious
objective, and introduces the word toward which the apostle is directing his
prayer, namely the word `dwell' which appears in Ephesians 3:17.  Some necessary
preparations, however, interpose in verse 16 before this blessed word is
introduced, these we must now consider.
The Central Tower (Eph. 3:14-21)
The Indwelling Christ
We have seen that the prayer of Ephesians 3:14-21 flows out of the
teaching of chapter 2, and especially the clause which speaks of the Temple as a
dwelling place for Christ in spirit.  The great parenthesis of Ephesians 3:2-13
delayed the actual prayer, and even though we have considered the intense
feeling of the apostle expressed in his attitude of prostration `I bow my knees
unto the Father' and have considered the meaning of the clause `of Whom every
fatherhood in heaven and earth is named' we are not yet ready for the prayer
`that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith', for the terms of verse 16
intervene:
`That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might by His spirit in the inner man' (Eph. 3:16).
It is evident from the wording of this verse, that once again the main theme is
held up while further explanatory statements are made:
A
That He would grant you,
B  (According to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with might by His spirit in the inner man);
A
that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.
The grant that is prayed for is evidently something of the highest value seeing
that the answer must be `according to the riches of His glory'.  While the needs
both of the creature and of the believer must ultimately be supplied by God, the
riches upon which all depend appear to be subdivided much as a wealthy person
may have several accounts at the bank.  One for his business in the outside
world, one for his family and estate, yet another for his own private use.  Let
us with all reverence note the way in which the Lord draws upon various accounts
in His great store of riches.  The Jew under law could draw upon riches of
goodness, forbearance and long-suffering, but is represented as despising this
bounty, not realizing that the goodness of God would lead to repentance (Rom.
2:4).  After the apostle had expressed some of the wonders of God's dealings
with Israel, especially those dealings which can be denominated `dispensational'
involving as they do the reconciling of the world, the mystery of Israel's
blindness and the ultimate salvation of `all Israel', the apostle concludes with
a doxology which speaks of the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God (Rom. 11:33).  In like manner, when he comes to the great
mystery itself, and would define its terms he speaks of them as `the
unsearchable riches of Christ' (Eph. 3:8).  Riches of `grace' are the source of
our redemption (Eph. 1:7), but the exceeding riches of grace are drawn upon for
our blessing in the ages to come (Eph. 2:7).  Riches of glory are associated, in
the prison Epistles, with:
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