November 16 2025

Sunday November 16

“In the Inner Man”

Ephesians 3:14-19

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Today we're specifically looking at Ephesians 3:16. Two things we're going to talk about and that's, “the riches of His glory” and “in the inner man”. As we look at this passage of scripture, we realize that the power of the Holy Spirit is given to us “according to the riches of His glory”. Christ returned to glory. But remember He said, "If I don't go away, I can't send the Holy Spirit. But if I go away, I will send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit." (John 14; John 16:7). Christ returned to glory and sent the Holy Spirit from heaven to indwell and to empower His people.

So, it's not necessary for us to work something up. The power of God has been sent down. Jesus said, "Tarry at Jerusalem till the power of the Holy Spirit is come upon you." (Acts 1:4-8). They did tarry and the Holy Spirit, 10 days later, on the day of Pentecost, came down upon them. The Holy Spirit was sent down. The Holy Spirit is the “gift of God” according to those first passages of Scripture in the book of Acts (Acts 2:38; 8:20; 10:45; 11:17). Now the Holy Spirit dwells in us and empowers us.

God doesn't give us the Holy Spirit's power out of His riches, but “according to His riches” and that is a far greater thing. If I'm a billionaire and I give you $10, I've given you out of my riches. But if I give you a million dollars, I have given you according to my riches. The first is a portion, but my friend, the second is a proportion. Oh, God has His riches in heaven that are immeasurable, unfathomable, endless, eternal. He gives you not out of His riches but “according to the riches of His glory”.

Now very interesting this power is available for “the inner man”. This means the spiritual part of man where God dwells and God lives in us. We read in Romans 8:16; “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God”. The inner man of the lost sinner is dead (Ephesians 2:1), but that inner spirit becomes alive when the Holy Spirit of Christ, Christ Himself comes to indwell us. We find that the inner man can see in Psalm 119:18, "Open mine eyes that I may see wondrous things out of your law." The inner man can hear Matthew 13:9, Jesus said, "He who has ears, let him hear." 

“The inner man” has taste in Psalm 34:8; “Taste and see that the Lord is good”. We find we can feel with the inner man (Acts 17:27). According to 1 Timothy 4:7-8, we find that bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness exercises great profit for those who trust and believe in Him. The outward man is perishing. But the inner man, the inner man can be renewed day by day in spite of the physical outward decay that takes place. I love that passage in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal”. 

What does it mean to have the Holy Spirit empower “the inner man”? It means that our spiritual faculties are controlled by God, and we are exercising them and growing in the Word (Hebrews 5:12-14). It is only when we yield to the Spirit and let Him control the inner man that we succeed in living to the glory of God. This means we are feeding the inner man the Word of God, praying and worshiping, keeping clean, and exercising the senses by loving obedience.

May God help us to trust Him today to have that strength that only He can give for His glory and for His ministry of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the world around us.

God bless!