Ephesians 1 v 15 thru 23

Transcript

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So, um, one of the remarkable features of the Christian life is that believers often possess far more in Christ than they realize. Um, Paul has just spent verses 3 through 14 describing the glorious works of the triune God in salvation. We learned that the Father chose us before the foundation of the world in verse 4, that the Son redeemed us through his blood in verse 7, the Spirit sealed us as the guarantee of our inheritance in verses 13 and 14. And this really is one of the richest theological passages in all of Scripture. Um, it reveals the sovereign grace of God in salvation, uh, which is a cornerstone of biblical Christianity. But now Paul turns from praising God to really now praying, and he starts a prayer here for uh the church in Ephesus. And he does that because it's possible for us to hear great theological truths and still not grasp the depths of it and the glory of it in our hearts. We we may run through our minds, but it doesn't really kind of sink in. And so because of that, Paul praised that the believers in Ephesus would know the spiritual realities of what belongs to them in Christ. And uh John Calvin wrote that the knowledge of God is not a bare speculation, but a living perception of his glory, which transforms the heart. And that is exactly what Paul is leaning to now as he moves into this prayer in chapter one. Um, we we don't have to guess at who God is, we don't have to guess at what God has done for everyone who places their faith and trust in Christ, because scripture tells us that whole section began. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who's blessed us in with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. So he tells us we already have everything we need in Christ. And um, Paul's prayer then in this passage really reveals to us a few things about every believer that we have the hope of God's calling. Thankfully, we don't have to do this salvation thing on our own. It's based on God's calling. And then there's the the riches of God's inheritance, both to him and for us, and then the greatness of God's power. Let's look, beginning in verse 15 of Ephesians 1. It says, For this reason, because I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word today. Thank you for your spirit who enlightens our understanding, Lord. We pray that today we might glean from your word the truths that will cause us to grow to be more like Christ, to be more faithful, to be more holy, to be more the image of the fullness of Christ, and that it might all be done for your glory in Jesus' name. Amen. So the the hope of God's calling in verses 15 through 18, Paul begins there by expressing thanksgiving. He says, For this reason, then he tells the reason, because I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love to all this toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks. So he tells them that their faith in Christ and their love are visible in their lives. They have faith toward Christ and they have love toward believers. Scripture tells us that they'll know that you are my disciples by your love. That you love one another. And that's that's the reality. We can do all the right things. We can come to church every Sunday, we can know how to dress right and when to stand and sit, and all the words to everything, and memorize all the scripture in the world. But if that is not a genuine saving faith that is being lived out in how we adore Christ and how we carry ourselves in our life, and how we treat fellow believers in Christ, and how we even treat lost people, we need to be questioning whether or not what we have is genuine saving faith. Not because we're getting there by our works, but we'll be known by our fruit. And the fruit comes from the root. And so we have to have a life that honors Christ and that has faith in him, and that is exhibited by how we then love those around us. And these two marks appear repeatedly throughout the New Testament. Jesus said that. I said earlier, John 13, 35, by this will all people know that you're my disciples if you have love for one another. So Paul comment commends here the Ephesian church because these fruits are already present in them. It's already there. And so he's saying, I thank God because I see your faith being lived out. Paul continues that prayer. He doesn't stop at thanksgiving. He says, I do not cease giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. But then verse 17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of Him. It doesn't mean new revelation beyond Scripture, but Paul is asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate for them, to give them understanding of the truths that have already been revealed. That's what we do here every week. I'm not giving you new information. I'm not, well, here's what I think. That's why we start in verse 1, chapter 1, and we go to the end of that book. That's why we've been through John and Revelation and Romans and Luke. That's why on Wednesday nights we went through Hebrews a number of years ago. We started in verse 1, chapter 1. We went through all the way through the end of chapter 13. It helps to keep us, as we talked about in Sunday school this morning, it helps to keep us in the context. It's really hard to pull some aberrant weird meaning of some verse of scripture if we're going through the whole book. It's really easy to stay on track when we remember, oh wait, that can't be right, because last week we saw this. Two weeks ago we saw that. And then I tell you something weird, and then next week I say something that, well, this next passage says this, which may contradict that. So it keeps us in the context, it keeps us understanding. Because here's here's here's the fact, and I know I've said this before over the years, but don't take this personally, but I don't care what scripture means to you. And you shouldn't care what scripture means to me. We should care what scripture means. What does it say? What does it mean by what it says? What did it mean when it was written in the first century? How did the church in Ephesus, for example, understand Paul's words? What did it mean then? What was God intending as he inspired Paul to write these words? Not, well, I think it means this to me. Well, that's great. But not really. We should be concerned with what did God mean when he inspired the apostle to write this? What was God trying to convey? And in that, it's pretty clear that we need the Holy Spirit to illuminate our understanding. Otherwise, our light's going to be pretty dim and may even be off track. So Paul says that we have received the Spirit who is from God that we might understand the things that are freely given us by God. God's given us these things, but we still need the Holy Spirit to give us real, true understanding of what we are reading. And that's 1 Corinthians 2.12, by the way. Without the Spirit's illumination, we're not going to get it. We're not going to get to the depth of the meaning. And so Paul then speaks about enlightened hearts. He says, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened in verse 18. The heart of in scripture represents the center of the whole person, not just a blood-pumping organ, but it's the center of the person, the center of emotions. You know, the in especially in the Old Testament and in the King James, it'll talk about the bowels. Because how many of you know when you get stressed or upset, that kind of goes crazy? It's the seat of emotion. Well, the New Testament moves toward the heart, not just talking about that muscle in there that we hope is still beating and pumping blood, but the center of who we are. Why? Because whatever comes out of the heart travels through the whole body. It goes through every part of us. And so he talks about this idea that the heart really represents the mind, the will, the affections. Paul talks about whatever you set your heart on. He talks about that thing that goes beyond just what I think about things, but how I interact and respond and behave in light of that. And so the heart really is that he's asking that they would not merely hear the truth, but see it spiritually and have understanding and wisdom, which begins where, according to Proverbs? The fear of the Lord. It's the beginning of wisdom. The great Puritan pastor Thomas Watson, he wrote that knowledge without affection is but a winter sun which has light but little heat. There's a lot of knowledge there, but there's nothing radiating. There's nothing coming from that. Those are the kind of people who maybe you've encountered in your life when you have a conversation and maybe they don't agree with you and they have tons of knowledge and they're going to bludgeon you with it. That's why when we were studying apologetics in Sunday school, we talked about how our goal in a conversation, even when we're disagreeing strongly with someone, our goal is always to get to the gospel, not just to be right. And so we need our the eyes of our hearts to be enlightened, and and Paul desires more than just an intellectual understanding. I've been that guy. And Paul's prayer is that what they understand, he says, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, verse 18, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. The amazing thing to me is what words do we keep seeing over that? He, him, he, him, he, him. He's telling us God has done these things. And Paul's prayer for the believers in Ephesus, and I believe for us, is that we might know these things, that we might understand these things beyond this. Told y'all before I heard one of my favorite Southern gospel groups is a family group called the Martins, just because their harmony is so incredible. And I've known them for almost 30 years. And I heard Joyce Martin say in a in a concert one time, she said, she said, This is not original to me, but you know, there are a lot of people that are going to miss heaven by about 18 inches. Roughly the distance from here to here. We know God, but we don't know God. I can win the Bible trivia contest, but I don't have a relationship with him. But did I not do easy? Jesus addresses that in Matthew. Right? There are many who will come to me and say, Lord, Lord, did we not cast out demons? Did we not? Did we not? Did we not? Did we not? And he says, and I'm going to look at them and say, Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. We can do all we want to do in our own strength, but if we don't know Christ to begin with, if we are not possessing a face that a faith that we may profess but don't possess, all those things are, I think Isaiah said filthy rags. They're all for naught because we think we're earning points with God. But the reality is, Paul says, I want I want you to get beyond that. I want you to really understand in your heart these things. That it sinks beyond just intellectual understanding. Knowledge of facts saves no one. Genuine trust, which is wrapped up in the word faith, genuine trust in Christ, coupled with repentance, is what brings salvation. And he wants these believers in Ephesus and I believe us to grasp the glory of salvation that God gives us in Christ in a way that transforms them. 2 Corinthians 5.17 comes to mind. If anyone be in Christ, he's a new creation. It's not that we're just different, it's that we are made new. We're a completely different person. Our will is changed, our desire is changed. And then he talks about the hope of his calling, that verse 18, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. Notice the order. God's calling is first. It's the effectual call to salvation. God sovereignly summons sinners to salvation. Boy, there's some alliteration for you, huh? Almost can't spit that out. But the reality is scripture consistently emphasizes this. Romans 8 30, those whom he predestined, he also called, those whom he called, he justified. Our hope does not originate in our decision. Because apart from God moving on our heart first and drawing us to his son, John 6.44, we would never come to faith in Christ of our own accord. Why? Because it's a gift. The faith, this grace, the salvation. We're gonna get to that here in a few weeks when we get over to chapter 2, verses 8, 9, 10, which you hear regularly around here, because they are so foundational. But it originates, our salvation originates with God's call. He moves on the heart of those who are, oh, chapter 2, verse 1, you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But God, my two favorite words in the Bible, but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. What a tremendous message. That means I can't work it up, I can't earn my salvation. It is given to me by grace, God's riches at Christ's expense. It's a gift. It's given. And we can rest in that because if we're given that gift, here's the great news. God doesn't come along and say, give it back. He doesn't come along and say, sorry, you fell on your face. Give me back that salvation. Why? Last week. You were sealed in the promised Holy Spirit. That's our guarantee. The Holy Spirit is our our seal, our guarantee, our our the down payment of our salvation, of what is to come in eternity. Because salvation begins with God, our hope is secure. Our hope is sure. Verse 18, he talks about the riches of that God's glorious inheritance. Paul continues that prayer, and that phrase may seem weird to us. We we talked about earlier in this chapter about our our inheritance in Christ in verse 11, but here Paul speaks about God's inheritance in his people. God delights in his redeemed people as his treasured possession. God's covenant treasure. This is an idea that runs throughout scripture. Deuteronomy 7, 6, the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession. We've been given the spirit of adoption, Paul wrote to the church in Rome in chapter 8. We've been adopted. We just read that earlier, right? In this chapter. Just a couple weeks ago. In him we have redemption through his blood. Says that we were predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. I don't know how I don't know how that works. I've told you before, I'm perfectly fine to settle on the fact that God can understand things that my puny little brain can't grasp. But I know what scripture says. And I know what that means. I may not understand all the workings, because left up to me, if I'm God, you're all going to hell because I'm not giving up my son for any of you, not any of my three sons. But God is infinite in wisdom. And he is gracious and merciful and loving. And so he gave up his son. 1 Peter 2 9 says, You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people for his own possession. God doesn't merely tolerate us who are his. And God treasures that. I don't get it. But I know what scripture says. And it says he treasures his people as his possession. The great Scottish reformer John Owen said that Christ values his people not according to their worth, but according to his love. If it was based on our worth, we would all be doomed. But because it's based on his love, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Because it's based on his love, we as believers in Christ, the church, is precious to him because we were purchased by his blood, meaning by his life. He had to die. He had to die. And then he talks about the glory of the church, and this truth radically changes how we view the church. And I'm not talking about a Baptist church or a Pentecostal church or a charismatic church. I'm talking about the invisible church. And what I mean is every believer around the world, genuine believers in Christ, who are relying on Christ and Him alone for salvation. Not Jesus and Jesus and we're doomed. Jesus alone. Okay, I we've talked how many times in 11 years that I've been here about the fact that if you read Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 come before 10, we're saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves, gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast. Then, for we are his workmanship created Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. The good works are not what save us, they are subsequent, they are the result, the fruit of salvation. Then the good works come. And the church is not merely a religious gathering, it's not a building. I know we refer to this as well, I'm going to church. I get it. But the word ecclesia, which is translated church, literally means the gathering. It's us, it's the people, it's all genuine believers in Christ around the world. That is the church. And so because it's the redeemed people of God, it is an inheritance of Christ. Paul later says in Ephesians 5, verse 25, that Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. The cross reveals the immeasurable value that Christ places on his people. Not because of us, but because of him, because of what he has done for us. Then he talks about the immeasurable greatness of God's power in verses 19 down through the end of the chapter. Paul really reaches kind of the pinnacle, the high point of the climax of his prayer here. He says, What is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe? The Greek language here really piles up words for the power of God. Paul uses multiple terms to describe the overwhelming strength of God at work in believers. Why? Because the power that saves us is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. It's resurrection power. It's what takes us, as chapter 2 says, from being dead in our trespasses and sins to being alive together with God in Christ. It's resurrection power, spiritually resurrected. Paul continues in verse 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. The resurrection is the ultimate demonstration of God's power. Because he took what was dead and made it alive. And if you're in Christ, he did that in you. Just as he did physically with Jesus. Death is humanity's greatest enemy. But if we're in Christ, we understand death is just the beginning. It's just the beginning. Why? Because Christ conquered death. He defeated that enemy on our behalf. Peter declares in Acts 2.24 in his great sermon on the day of Pentecost, he said God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, removing what makes death awful. If you've ever been in a situation where you're in a room as a Christian passes from this life versus a lost person passing from this life, I've seen those passings be very, very different. Absolute torture as that lost person is dying, they're crying out and screaming, and even if they're unconscious, they're fidgety, they're there, you can see turmoil. Versus, for example, when my dad passed away, my sisters were in the room with him, and he was had been unconscious for the better part of a week. And and would, as I've told you before, his face and his ears would get beat red when he was in pain, even before he was unconscious. And so one of my sisters took the morphine drops that hospice had brought and just put a drop under his tongue just to try to ease that pain. And she said, in less than a minute, he opened his eyes for the first time in almost a week and went. That was it. As peaceful as could be. God is faithful. So when a believer passes from this life, it's just a transition to something infinitely better. Immeasurably better. Not because of us, but because of Christ. Because of God's grace. He says there, he talks about Christ being exalted then. Verse 21, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. Christ's authority is universal. He's not just Lord of the church, he's Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And he's not running for office. It's not what he will become when he returns. He already is the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. Every power in heaven and on earth is subject to him. And it fulfills the prophecy of Psalm 110: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Christ is now reigning as the exalted king. And one day the king is going to return for the rest of his children. And it is central to our understanding of Christ's kingship that Abraham Kuiper very famously said that there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, mine. Christ rules over every sphere of life. History, nations, and the church. Christ is the head of the church. Paul begins the conclusion of his prayer, verse 22. He says he puts all things under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church. Christ is head over the church, not somebody sitting in Italy. Christ is the head of the church. Christ rules the universe for the benefit of his church. The sovereign king governs history for the good of his people. It echoes Romans 8.28 for those who love God, he works all things together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose. Then finally in verse 23, Paul says, speaks of the fullness of Christ. He says, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. The church is the body of Christ. Paul uses that illustration to help us understand over and over in his letters. Christ fills the church with his presence and power. The church is the fullness of Christ because he does not wish to be considered complete apart from his members. I'm not that smart. But Christ unites himself to his people in such a profound way that the church becomes the living display of his glory in the world. That's why we're called to come out and be separate. We're called to be different than the world. Paul's prayer reveals the deep spiritual realities that every believer must know. The hope of God's calling, the riches of God's inheritance, the immeasurable greatness of God's power. All of these blessings are grounded in the sovereign work of God in Christ on our behalf. Because why? Because blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Verse 3 of this chapter. The same God who chose us before the foundation of the world, who redeemed us through the blood of Christ, who seals us with the Holy Spirit, now works in us with resurrection power. And because Christ is risen and reigning, the future of the church is secure. We don't need to be worried about what's going on in the Middle East or in Ukraine or anywhere else. Should we have concern? Should we pray for them? Absolutely. Should we be worried that the church is going to come to an end? There's always going to be a remnant. Scripture is very clear. Because of Christ, the church is secure. Romans 8 11 says, if the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. He will sustain us physically until the point that he says, now is your time. The days of man are numbered, the Old Testament tells us. God knows our coming in and our going out. He knows the very second we will draw our last breath, or we will go to be with him. Whatever order that comes in. One day, the power that raised Christ will raise every believer from the grave. That's the resurrection power of God in Christ. And until that day, Paul's prayer really remains our prayer, that God would open our eyes to see the glory of the salvation we already possess in Christ, and beyond our eyes seeing it, that our hearts would embrace and trust in that. Or as the great American theologian Jonathan Edwards wrote, the enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. Baptist catechism. Anybody familiar with that? Do you know what Baptists have a catechism? We tend to think that's like a Lutheran or a Catholic thing, or there's a Baptist catechism. To catechize just means to teach, to instruct, to train. We think kids, it's for everybody. It says, what is the chief end of man? Why are we here? Okay, it says chief end of man. It's worded a little weird. It was written centuries ago. What is the chief end of man? To love God and enjoy him forever. That's the answer. And so I pray that God would open our hearts and our eyes, that we would truly know him, that we would trust in him, and that we would live with him and rejoice in him forever. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Lord, I pray that your spirit would truly open our eyes, open our minds, give us not only mental understanding.