Title: Seeing with New Eyes
Ephesians 1:15–23
Series: Ephesians -Learn & Live the Truth of Who You Are in Christ
We continue learning about what God has done to bring His redeemed children into relationship with Him.
And what we’re learning will eventually shift over to how we should live in light of these truths.
This morning, we’re learning about some of the amazing advantages we have in following Christ.
And we’re learning this from a prayer that the Apostle Paul is praying for his readers.
I think that we can learn both from this prayer and what we should be praying for ourselves and others.
Hopefully we’ll grow more mature than the man that found God personally responding to His prayer.
So he asked God how long a million years was to him.
God replied, “It's just like a single second of your time, my child.”
So the man asked, “What about $1,000,000?”
The Lord replied, “To me, it's just like a single penny.”
The man gathered himself up and said, “Well, Lord, could I have one of your pennies?”
Then God said, “Certainly, my child, just a second.”
We’re going to be looking at a powerful prayer in Ephesians 1.
But it’s not a prayer for better things or for wealth.
It’s a prayer that can only be appreciated if we value what’s truly important.
And so we look at Ephesians 1:15-20 in terms of - Seeing with New Eyes
I’m going to read all the way through v. 23, but some of it we’ll leave for next Sunday.
Ephesians 1:15–23
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16
I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 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,
18 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, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness
of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ
when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 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. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all
things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
We see very quickly that this prayer opens up to us a world of God’s magnitude that we never would’ve
assumed.
The idea that Christians can learn and lean on hope, God’s future inheritance, and God’s immeasurable
power is pretty amazing.
All this we learn from Paul’s thankfulness and his prayer.
It’s much like the pastor who was learning about Christian practices in the homes of his parishoners.
He was talking to a six year old boy in his church.
He was pleased to hear that the boy overheard his mother praying for him every night.
The passed her asked him, “what does your mom pray for you.”
The little boy replied, “Thank God, he's in bed!”
Before we learn from Paul’s prayer, we can learn from what Paul observes in verses 15-16, and similarly we
can -
1. THANK THE LORD FOR SIGNS OF SALVATION. (15-16)
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16
I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
The Apostle Paul has received good reports of the spiritual maturity among the Christian in Ephesus.
He’s grateful for the evidence of the Ephesians Christians’ saving faith and thus being assured that they are
sealed by the Holy Spirit.
The evidence which he writes about is their faith in Christ as their Savior and the love they show to other
believers.
One writer states “Faith without love is NOT faith, only speculation or knowledge or mere intellectual assent.
The fruit of authentic faith is always love.”
The truth is that saving faith puts us in relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ.
And He starts to change us more into His image, which means we’re going to love who He loves.
As the Expositor’s Bible Commentary puts it, “Faith finds its focus in Christ and expresses itself in love to
others.”
As a result, Paul thanks God for the Ephesian believers constantly.
The term he uses for “Remembering” literally means “making mention” of them to God in his prayers.
So, he’s not thinking of them as he prays but actually mentioning them to God.
One great blessings and great curses of cell phones is seeing family members’ locations.
I have a thing I do that Kelly is trying to get me to stop doing.
Sometimes on Sunday mornings, I’ll check my adult kids locations to see if they’re at church.
It warms my heart when I see that.
I think it’s similar to what the Apostle John writes in
* 3 John 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
More significant than where we are on Sunday morning is what were doing with those Sunday relationships.
?- What’s your relationship like with the God that you worship in church?
?- How do you seek to love those that you worship alongside of?
It’s no small thing to see the world with eyes of faith and love for other believers.
?- Is your faith noticeable to others?
?- How would you describe your love toward other believers?
Your love is far more in “word” than in “deed.”
Other believers can tell that you’re concerned and experience the impact of your love for them.
You’re actively pursuing the good of other believers.
I want to tell you as a church that I thank the Lord for signs of vibrant spiritual life in our congregation.
I regularly see “your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints.”
Our passage this morning is mostly a prayer.
It’s a prayer for an experience of God’s grace that we should pray for ourselves.
As a prayer for our own experience, we should also look at these truths in terms of what God makes
available to His redeemed children.
We can grow in our understanding and experience of these truths.
It’s also a prayer that we should pray for others as the Apostle Paul does for the Ephesian believers.
Here’s the content of the prayer which is the rest of this morning’s passage.
17 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, 18 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, 19 and
what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his
great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand
in the heavenly places,
You can actually find this prayer in our Prayer Directory as a tool to pray for others and for yourself.
it’s meant for you to simply fill in the person’s name -
“Give ____ the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of [You], having the eyes of ____’s
heart enlightened, that ____ may know what is the hope to which [You] have called ____, what are the
riches of [Your] glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of [Your] power
toward us who believe, according to the working of [Your] great might.” - Ephesians 1:17–19
So I hope that this morning’s message convinces you of the incomprehensible gift that salvation is.
It’s not just being saved from hell but the opportunity to be brought back into full fellowship with God.
You can use these truths to help you be convinced that their possible.
And then you can pray expectantly for God to bring it about in your life and in the lives of other believers
you’re praying for.
So, with that, I want to challenge you to
2. PRAY FOR THE FULL CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S PROVISION. (17-20)
The primary request is in verse 17.
17 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, 18 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, 19 and
what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his
great might 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 prayer is that Christians would grow in their knowledge of God.
He describes God as He who was represented by our Lord Jesus Christ and the “Father of glory.”
This description of God means “the one to whom all glory belongs” as creator and author of our salvation.
He asks the Lord to give to them the experience of the work of the Holy Spirit.
This includes His wisdom and revelation -being wise and understanding God’s revealed truth.
This is similar to what the Messiah was foretold to have in -
* Isaiah 11:2 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
?- In what area of life are we to benefit from the Spirit’s ministry in this way? - in our knowledge of God.
This knowledge isn’t facts and figures.
It’s an intimate, personal knowledge (epignōsei) - an intimate experience of His character and will.
When a person trusts Christ as their Savior, they BEGIN a personal walk with God.
This prayer is for a DEEPER walk with God through whatever the Christian goes through.
Receiving “the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him” is rephrased as “having the eyes
of your hearts enlightened.”
17 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, 18 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, 19 and
what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his
great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand
in the heavenly places,
This points to the idea that the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit is not a new set of ideas in the mind.
It’s a saved person experiencing a renewing of their heart.
This enlightenment is begun with the eyes of our hearts being opened to the truth & being changing.
And it continues throughout our walk with Christ.
As Sproul puts it, “At the moment of regeneration, the eyes of the heart are opened somewhat, but this is
just the beginning. The whole Christian life involves an unfolding and enlarging of the heart’s openness to
the things of God.”
With this ministry of the Holy Spirit at work opening the eyes of our hearts, we can -
2a. HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE COMPLETION OF GOD’S SAVING WORK.
17 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, 18 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, 19 and
what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his
great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand
in the heavenly places,
People are saved when they trusts in Jesus’ death and resurrection to count for them in covering the
penalty of their sins and giving them a relationship with God.
But God is still at work to save His redeemed children -
saving from slavery to sin
saving from attachment to the sinful world
and eventually saving them from eternal death by escorting them into heaven.
This completion of our salvation is the hope to which we’ve been called.
We should allow the Holy Spirit to use God’s truth to solidify our hope.
And that hope isn’t about us crossing our fingers.
It’s an expectation that we will participate in God’s final victory.
It’s a constant assurance of what’s written about in -
* 1 John 3:2–3 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but
we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who
thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
It is a firm belief that we will come face to face with our conquering Savior King.
And Jesus embodies the hope that we have.
Because He is true to His word, our hope is well-founded.
The second assurance that we can have has to do with our experience with God in eternity.
2b. HAVE CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S GLORY-SHINING INHERITANCE.
17 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, 18 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, 19 and
what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his
great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand
in the heavenly places,
It is far to small of an idea to think that God’s going to shower gold or jewels on us as riches.
We can look forward to participating in the party when God’s redemptive plan come full circle.
And God’s riches will amount to us hitting the jackpot of what we were made to enjoy.
Paul writes about the riches of our relationship with God 6 times in these first three chapters.
So, if we’re looking at Ephesians as Learning and Living the Truth, we need to get into our minds that God
is rich in grace, mercy, and glory (these being what are described in Ephesians).
And, as Christians, we can look toward these riches of grace, mercy, and God’s glory in eternity.
These are far more valuable than any earthly treasure that we will have long forgotten that we loved.
What’s interesting is that it’s hard to tell if verse 18 is speaking of God’s inheritance that’s wrapped up
in His redeemed children, the saints.
Or if it’s speaking about God’s glorious inheritance that He’s going display in us “the saints.”
Bottom line is, whether the inheritance spoken of belongs to God in the form of us or if it’s God’s gift to us,
God is invested in making sure it happens.
God is invested in showing His glory in His inheritance upon our being gathered in heaven.
He’s going to make sure that His will is carried out because His glory depends on it.
And He’s looking forward to it.
The third truth that is illuminated by your hearts being enlightened is that you can -
2c. HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE POWER OF GOD DIRECTED TOWARD YOU.
17 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, 18 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, 19 and
what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his
great might 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 term for “power” here is “dynamis” from which we get our word “dynamite.”
We have ways to measure power in kilowatts, gigawatts, or the force of a powerful explosions equaled how
many tons of TNT.
And no measurement exists to measure the greatness of God’s power that is at work for believers.
And it’s not a power that’s stagnate and useless but active.
It’s “working” which is a term that’s similar to our word “energy.”
It’s the same word used in -
* Colossians 1:29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
And it’s a miraculous power that was put on display when God’s greatest miracle was carried out.
It’s His might which was “worked in Christ” when God resurrected Him and returned Him to His rightful
place in heaven.
We’ll look more closely at this next week when we examine Christ’s exalted position.
It’s easy for us as beleivers to feel powerless.
We can see ourselves as failures when we’re batted around by the power of our flesh.
The temptations of this world can seem overwhelming, and our progress can seem like two steps forward,
one step back
The solution when we feel this way is to dwell on the greatness of God’s power.
God’s power aimed toward us is the same level of power that did the unthinkable, toppling sin and death.
These are the confidences that we can have when fully experiencing God’s provision.
I’m farsighted and Kelly’s nearsighted.
These can be corrected with glasses.
But the person who’s shortsighted is in need of a work of God.
The prayer that we’ve been talking about is one that, when God answers it, solves shortsightedness.
The short-sighted may still pray, but it might sound like this.
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray my avocados will keep
I pray my stocks are on the rise
And that my advisor is wise
That all the wine I sip is fine
And that amazon arrives on time
That my vacations all go smooth
And my mirror says I still have youth
I pray my office fob still works
That my career won't lose its perks
That my home decor stays up to date
And my condo won't depreciate
I pray my health club doesn't close
And that my money market grows
If I go broke before I wake
I pray my Volvo they won't take
I know this prayer is totally silly.
?- But what do you usually pray about?
What’s sad about prayers like this that they’re only delaying the inevitable -it’s all gonna rot.
For God to answer the prayer for wisdom and knowing Him more deeply means dividends that multiply into
eternity as our relationship with Him grows.
And it results in even greater confidence in what we have to look forward to and can never lose.
This in turn only gives us more desire for seeing the significance that’s ours in Christ and the future God has
in store for us.
?-What provision from God do you typically want to experience?
Is it comfort, ease, and independence?
Or is it strong hope in Christ, anticipation of heaven, and an awareness of God’s awesome power?
So Let’s close by praying for ourselves as a church family
“Heavenly Father, give us the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of You, having the eyes of
our hearts enlightened, that we may know what is the hope to which You have called us, what are the
riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power
toward us who believe, according to the working of Your great might.”
