The Indwelling of Christ in our hearts - Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love…” - Ephesians 3:14-17

“Our hearts also need to be strengthened, because while we love ourselves, Christ will not come into our hearts…The ultimate battle in the Christian life is to get rid of self & self-love; & of ourselves we cannot do this. You drive it out as it were by one door of your house, but it soon returns by another, or through some window, or by the chimney. To get rid of self-love seems impossible. But Christ will not come into our hearts until there is room for Him. We cannot create love, we cannot ‘work it up’. Nothing is so foolish as to try to do so. Love is a gift of God through the Spirit; so we must pray that He will strengthen our hearts to receive this pure love, which is so strange to us as natural men & women...

Whenever you invite a guest to come to stay in your home you always begin to tidy up the house; you want the place to look nice, & at its best. It would be insulting to your guest not to do so. In so doing you are paying the guest a very subtle & delicate compliment. If you have some great personage coming to stay with you, you redouble your efforts; there is nothing you will not do. What we have been considering is the possibility of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, coming to dwell within us; not only to pay a visit, but to make His home within us. This needs preparation, but preparation beyond our natural capacity & capability. So we need to be strengthened by the Holy Spirit, & as we thus become strengthened, we act, we get rid of the rubbish, we cleanse & purify ourselves, mortify the flesh, deliberately keep out things that we know are not compatible with Him, or which would grieve Him & offend Him. We do all we can, & we go on doing so. We plead with Him to come; we yearn for Him.

This is where faith comes in – ‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith’. We believe in the possibility, knowing that it can become an actuality…”

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Unsearchable Riches of Christ: Exposition of Ephesians 3