Ephesians 1:15-23, What Do You Know?

Ephesians 1:15-23 and the Prayer for Knowledge

Ephesians chapter 1 starting verse 15 be reading verse 23. Hear the word of the Lord. For this reason because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for 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 a spirit of wisdom and of revelation and 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. May the Lord add his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. What do you know? Do you know some skills? They give you employment.

Maybe how to do physical therapy. How to cook and sell Chinese food. Anybody here fit that description? Maybe how to bake. How to run a retail business. How to be a nurse or practice medicine don't mean to leave anybody out but or how to edit.

Whatever Joshua does I'm not sure. Something with computers software engineering. I think I don't know what that is. More generally you may know other skills that help you live. How to communicate how to drive a car.

How to pay your taxes. How to cook for yourself? How to eat right and exercise. Brush your teeth be polite and so relate well with others. Some knowledge is so basic. We just take it for granted. In fact, probably even forgot that we actually learned it.

We think it's just natural but actually did learn it at one time. Maybe how to tie a tie. How to apply for a job? How to behave in an interview? That's still knowledge. What you know provides a way of living for you.

How to get around that keeps you out of jail for tax evasion. Provides food keeps you healthy and with teeth to smile with and gives you harmonious relationships. What you know has probably been the main way that you have been given almost everything you have in some way.

Do what you know?

I mean.

Imagine that you didn't know any of that you didn't have any knowledge of how to make a living or how to talk to other People or how to drive or stay out of jail or get along with people. You would be pretty miserable.

Francis Bacon said knowledge is power. You become keenly aware of how much knowledge means when you're in a place where you don't know the language. And other people don't know your language so you can't communicate Your knowledge.

And that would happen to be a few times in Singapore. Once I came into a little shop and I and wanted to order food. But the older man didn't understand me and I couldn't understand him. So we he got his little grandson probably about eight years old and To translate for us standing between us, you know without that boy. I wouldn't have power to get lunch.

Knowledge is power in America. The slave owners understood this and the South laws were enacted to keep the slaves Uneducated at first now during the Great Awakening as well. I can the 1740s that time they allowed slaves to read Because the Christians wanted everyone including the slaves to be able to read the Bible, but they drew the line at writing.

You can teach people to read without teaching them to write believe it or not. South Carolina was the first state in 1740 to pass a law prohibiting anyone from teaching a slave to write and They did that because they didn't want the slaves to forge passes To be able to escape or maybe to write to other slaves.

Eventually though they suppressed all education for slaves if they could keep them ignorant. They thought they they could keep them down if knowledge is power. Ignorance is weakness. Our enemies always want to keep us.

Ignorant.

Now since ignorance is weakness that explains part. Why so many people feel so weak or helpless or fearful because of this pandemic now. Most of us are ignorant about virology. At least I am maybe the rest of you are all experts on it.

I'm not and so we feel that we have to trust authorities. Do what we're told. We have to just be afraid and trust whatever they tell us is is is the thing to do. Which puts us in a quandary when we have different authorities telling us different things.

This past week in Washington There was a debate in the Senate and turned out between two different doctors on whether to wear you need to wear a mask. After you're vaccinated. Right. Who do you believe?

Can you follow your own common sense here that hear the facts from both sides and then make up your mind or are we not? Capable of that. We have a lot of talking in the past year. There's been a lot of talking about this virus about the pandemic but very little knowledge.

Still after a year you think we wouldn't have some things down pat. I mean, there's some things to be careful about and be cautious about how to be careful what to do what not to do. But there's all this Obsession over the past year with this virus.

There's still very little understanding of it. At least among most people a recent study showed that over 60 of people Think that the likelihood of being hospitalized for kovat that is if you get kovat your likelihood of being hospitalized.

60 of people thought the likelihood was 10 times. What it really is. We've had schools closed because most people don't know that children rarely are severely affected by kovat and rarely spread it.

Just that bit of knowledge. You could have schools open but people just don't know it. A year into this pandemic and we still see people. I just saw one a couple days ago driving down the road alone in a car with a mask on.

Okay, why and despite all the talk about it? There's very little knowledge and where there's no knowledge. There's weakness and.

Fear.

Hosea chapter 4 verse 6 says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge so What do you know? Well here in Ephesians Paul the prisoner. For the Lord the prisoner prays for the church for us. We're the church after all he's praying for us and that's remarkable enough.

You'd expect a prisoner to be asking for prayer when you I mean if I were a prisoner I'd be begging for prayer, you know, please get me out of here. But here the prisoner prays for the church and what does he pray for?

That they would come up with the bail money pray pray for enough money so we can bribe my way out of this place. Pay for a lawyer. No, he prays entirely for them and he prays that they gain knowledge.

Let's look at this passage in three very uneven parts first the proof. Second the praise and then the prayer. First there's the proof now Paul's prayer here. And again, this is a single sentence entire passage.

I read verses 15 to 23 in Greek is one just one sentence and It issues out of the statement that we saw last week. Remember that God is blessed. God has blessed himself by choosing by predestining by gracing us with grace that he lavished on us by giving us an inheritance and All of that generosity Paul says is what God likes to do.

We would say I guess in our language. He likes what he likes to do for fun. What do you like to do for fun go trail biking or do that for fun? Well, God likes to do for fun. What Paul says he's good pleasure is to choose people.

Predestined them grace them with grace lavishes mercy on them. And it's so because of that. That's what in God's good pleasure for this reason. Or is to give God good pleasure in verse 15 Paul is glad to see proof of their conversion the more people who are saved the more that means that God has blessed himself and these people to whom Paul is writing are giving the proof.

That they are saved and so proof. That God's happy and what is the proof. And he gives two proofs here first faith in the Lord Jesus and Second their love for God's people the Saints faith and love are the proofs of being saved.

True faith. It's not just kind of ambiguous faith in anyone faith and anything positive attitude. Like people who believe in prayer, but don't but don't know who they pray to. As long as they're kind of praying to whoever it is fate, but that's not what he's talking about here.

He says it is faith in the Lord Jesus, particularly you need to know.

Who.

To have faith in. Well, the second proof is he says his love for all the Saints that is they loved other of God's people. How you treat other Christians. Especially other church members is proof of whether you are one of God's people.

Think about that. The father has graced us with grace. He said in the previous passage remember last week lavished that grace on us. And then if you believe that what he just said about God earlier in this chapter He graced us with grace lavished it on us then how can you say.

That you believe that if you too don't show grace and lavish love on those. You say that you believe God has done that to Do good to all men, especially the household of faith. That is to particularly for fellow church members and notice Paul specifically says that they had love for all the Saints.

Not just some Saints those Saints are kind of like them a select few. Those who have my interest in mind who look like me who follow maybe who followed the same Apostle that I like their favorite preacher like some of the Corinthians remember who followed some after Paul some after Apollos.

Some after Peter or were maybe some are just in the same ethnic group as themselves, you know. If they were Jewish Christians, they loved the other Jewish Christians. But they just couldn't stand to put up with those all those Unruly Greek Christians who bring can you believe it?

They bring ham to the church potluck those barbarians or if they were Greek. He only cared about other Greeks, you know. You go and you try to talk to these Greek Greek Christians were thinking man. You try to talk to these Jewish Christians and they don't care about the Olympics.

They don't care about any of the things I care about and so they maybe so they ended up not caring. Could care less if the Christians in Jerusalem are being persecuted or they were poor. Expect me to give my money to help those poor Jewish Christians.

Why they're not like me there's the Greek churches and the Jewish churches and let's all meet separately and Just look after our own kind of people, you know, like today we have white churches of black churches and Chinese churches here.

No, that's not what was going on with them. They have love for all the Saints Paul talks about and that's that's not really if you're like Some today that's not really proof of Anything except for love for one's own kind of people, which is really just a form of self.

Love if you only love people who are like you. It may be because you only love Yourself, which is another way of saying you don't really love at all. But these believers loved all the Saints. That was their proof that proof provoke provokes Paul's praise in verse 16.

I do not cease to give thanks to God for You he is thankful and praising God for the proof of their faith and love Paul is it praising them for the good? They've done him personally notice that he's praising them and Ultimately, he's praising God because he's giving thanks to God because of the good they've done.

For the Lord it should be proof that God is blessed. That provokes our praise. Did you know that? Well, there's the proof and the praise and then all the remainder of This passage from the second half of verse 16 to the end is the prayer.

Now here Paul is the prisoner and he's praying for the church. What is he praying for? If you were like many modern Christians, you'd expect him to make a list of people with health needs, you know problems.

Health problems that need prayer so and so as an uncle who's got having a heart surgery next week that kind of thing. And there's nothing wrong with praying for health or prosperity. But here in prison looking at the greatest need for the church.

What does Paul pray for?

What's he pray for?

He pray for their their bigness their numerical success big numbers. Maybe their popularity. Those those are nice things, but that's not what he prays for for the church. He prays For knowledge. He prays that the day and we will know God and The gospel better.

That prayer for knowledge takes two forms first the spirit of it and second for specific things. To know the spirit and the specific he prays that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of glory or the glorious father.

The father was full of glory may give us a a spirit a spirit of wisdom and a revelation and the knowledge of him I believe here He means by spirit not the Holy Spirit, but a heart in us that our spirits be open to wisdom and God's revelation.

I believe that first because Paul has already said in verse 13 that all believers have the Holy Spirit in them. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit when we believe so there earlier in the path verse 13 and second I believe this spirit he's praying for is is is Synonymous of was the same thing as what he prays for in verse 18 having the eyes of your heart Enlightened the spirit he is praying for is the same thing is to have Enlightenment a new light to our hearts eyes.

So now like a blank blind man being healed we see things we couldn't see before. Even though they were right in front of us the whole time. Our eyes are now opened now imagine you're a prisoner and You have one thing to ask the Lord for the church and It's that we have a spirit of wisdom and revelation that we be able to see.

To know the Lord now in our day that ideal. I think that would be shocking. It wouldn't occur to me Christian today that that be the thing to pray for. Knowledge many people think is it important? This is all head knowledge.

You know, you don't really need it. It's irrelevant. It's boring. You just need a feeling in your heart. That's all you need. You don't need the eyes of your heart enlightened. They say you need the feelings of your emotions stirred.

You need a thrill. I Know a church in this area with a lady member who told me of her Friends who told me that they sometimes get so carried away in the spirit. She said that they don't even get they don't sometimes they don't even get to the preaching.

They just I guess get just keep whatever they're doing singing and things. Sometimes they have no ministry of the word because they are in she says the spirit now I don't know what spirit they are in.

What message do you think that sense of the members of the church about how important it is to know? What God has said in his word to understand him. What do you think is sending? It's communicating to the members something about God and the importance of knowledge.

Then you think you can just skip out on the sermon and be quote in the spirit so I wasn't too surprised but I was saddened that that lady's husband left her for another woman and If you try to approach that man, you know, maybe with verses about adultery faithfulness to marriage.

He would probably be close to it because you know, that's all that's all head knowledge his heart. Or more likely some other part of him. Let him another way and his church taught him by example. That that's okay.

Well, what do you know? You know, you need a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Well first notice that the glorious father He gives it so it can't be earned like a degree from a college. It's a gift it's a gift that inclines us toward makes us receptive to wisdom and Revelation wisdom begins.

Proverbs tells us with the fear of the Lord. So the spirit we are to pray to have is a holy fear of God fear of trespassing his ways whether knowingly or just by Out of ignorance of being led astray by our own foolishness and sin.

Fear the Lord gives you a trembling and his word a care in handling it like you'd handle legend of Electrical cable high voltage wire fell from the ceiling. You'd be very careful how you handle that thing.

You'd be afraid of it being electrocuted and the same with God's Word. You don't want to miss a warning. You want to be careful with it? You don't miss a promise. You don't want to twist it just for your own because you know, we could destroy you.

You don't want to use it carelessly and that is. The stuff that is what you want what you're afraid of what you care about. That is that a spirit of wisdom is made of. To truly know him. We need not only a spirit of wisdom, but also of a revelation.

That is the glorious father Would reveal himself to us now revelation means knowledge that comes from God. It's not just facts on a page not just words that you can memorize bites that can be downloaded now, it's true.

It's not just head knowledge. I'm a little fearful to say it because it's in our day. Some I've gone off at the deep end with this idea that we don't need head knowledge all the way from that local church I just told you about or to a man at a funeral telling a fictional story how an angel came and took away the deceased.

That's why it's such a sweet thing that he's gone now and everyone knows that story is false in fact. But it must be true in spirit because it just makes us feel good all the way from that. To sophisticated theology particularly called neo-orthodoxy.

Saying that it's not the facts of Scripture that matter but the revelation from God as though they're Somehow in conflict with each other all of that has been all that has taken this idea that we need revelation and of Abused it but it's not either or you know, either revelation heart knowledge or Facts of Scripture head knowledge.

No, it's not it's it's both and the Holy Spirit revealed Scripture he inspired it. And he inspired its authors like Paul here and he can reveal himself through it. We need both the written word the reading the studying the meditating and The Holy Spirit revealing himself through it illuminating it making it come alive what he calls the spirit of revelation the eyes of our heart illumined.

So then now we we see what God is saying through it. So like suddenly the words of the Bible that before They were mysterious. They were dark to us. Maybe sometimes we have to admit we just felt they were boring but now someone is if someone has just turned on the light and we see.

Not just words on a page but we hear someone speaking to us through it and We tremble. We get to know not just the facts but a person if we have that spirit. We can crave both. You open your Bible and you long for God to speak to you through it to open your eyes.

Set your heart on fire for him. So you are full of knowledge of him. That's why we're doing what we're doing right now. This is why I spend a good amount of time preparing this message. We'll give you a scripture what God has revealed.

But then we know it's not just an academic exercise. This is not I hope.

Just a lecture.

We pray that God would bless it that the Holy Spirit would speak through it that there would be a spirit of revelation About us. So I and we need to pray for that more. That we're not just learned the facts more facts more information be better more educated but that the Holy Spirit wouldn't use that.

To lead us to Paul calls here a full knowledge of him. Now some educated people are so in love with their degrees and theologies and impressive knowledge That they forget that it's really all about a full knowledge of a glorious.

Father.

So generally Paul prays for us that we have a spirit that is open to a knowledge of God to have our spiritual eyes. See so that we see him better in his word. Then specifically he prays that we have a knowledge.

Specific knowledge about three specific things. First in verse 18. Look at verse 18 the prisoner prays that we would know the hope. To which God has called us that we would know the hope that we have.

That is God has called us. He's chosen predestined seller that fact celebrated earlier. We're describing God in this passage in chapter 1. He's called us to something that is worth hoping. For now hope doesn't just mean let's just wish you know, like I hope my team wins the tournament.

Hope means Confident expectation a confident trust. You expect something that you believe in you hope For it and so you look forward to it. He means that we should know that what awaits us that we have we have a hope that it is great.

What he what he called us what he called in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 says that no I has seen or your heard nor the heart of man. Imagine what God has prepared for those who love him. We expect that we believe in that we need to know that that that that there is something so wonderful that it's worth enduring.

The the worst that this world can throw at us when we're tempted with depression with giving up hope. Giving in because life seems too hard. Maybe the last thing we think we need. Maybe the last thing we think we need is knowledge.

We might think we need. Think we need money or we think we need, you know more cash to get out of debt or a new relationship a new family. That's our problem a new job. But what we really need specifically Is to know about our hope.

What do you know.

Second.

You need to know about our inheritance now. He mentioned the inheritance at the end of the long exaltation and the blessedness of God in verse 14 in the first half of the chapter. The Holy Spirit is that he said the guarantee of the down payment of that inheritance.

You should all have some times With the Holy Spirit when the experience of him seems so great That you think there's nothing could be better. Nothing could be greater than this. I Think we should all Understand, you know the temptation of that lady's church.

I told you about likes to be carried away with the spirit. You can understand. Yeah, I could kind of understand that. But why are you doing that a church? That's another question, but you can understand that but as great as experiences with the Spirit can be.

They are only a foretaste of The again the glorious that word glorious glorious father giving us a rich and glorious Inheritance the redeemed now have a new heart in which the Holy Spirit lives. Even while sin still dwells with us.

The glorious inheritance is a new heaven and a new earth filled with the presence of God. Absent of the presence of sin. The Bible doesn't try to describe it in detail. We just read that passage just a couple minutes ago.

We can't imagine it. So it doesn't try to describe for us what that inheritance is in detail. Can I get not like a travelogue describes a foreign country? In fact, it it tells us we can't even imagine how great it is.

But even though we can't imagine it we can still know that it is rich and glorious. Did you know that. Finally number three He says in verse 19. We need to know the immeasurable greatness of his power.

They give every every word of that phrase. Francis Bacon and many others have talked about the power of knowledge here. Paul prays that we have knowledge of.

Power.

That power he says is great. We need to know that is great. That's why some of the Psalms and the prophets speak poetically of God's of God's power you know that he holds the nations and the palm of his hand and they are but there but dust to him whole empires are.

Like dust in our to our fingers. Jeremiah says Oh Lord God. It is you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you. His power is so great.

It is really beyond our ability to know but we're not asked to know how great that power is. But to know that it is it is more power than we can know. That is off the charts, you know powerful. You can't measure how powerful it is.

Literally, it has surpassing what he calls or exceeding. Greatness greatness that that is exceeds our our comprehension. It is past our ability to measure with horsepower or kilowatts or megatons. We really we really can't know it but we can know that it is great.

Immeasurably great and that's what Paul is praying for that. We would know we would know how now. We can't really know how great it is. We can know it's beyond. Our knowledge of greatness if we know that God's power for us is immeasurably great.

Then we don't despair. We don't give up hope. Sometimes I hear Christians speaking with such despair about our country about this culture about the future. Everything is going downhill. The government is awful.

Society is more degenerate every day. You know, do you see the Grammys last Sunday? I kind of hope not talk about degenerate. Everything is falling apart. The truth the church even God himself is sometimes sound like wait.

Some people talk as has been defeated as though the gates of hell have prevailed. But they wouldn't talk that way if they had knowledge of the overwhelming power of God, did you know that. On that it is on the power of God.

Of the three specific things that he prays for that. We know the praying the prisoner elaborates that power. Overwhelming exceeding power. He says is toward us who believe in verse 19. That is we need to know that God's power is on our.

Behalf.

He uses it for us. It's not just you know God just out there using it to make planets and stars and galaxies and we look up at a night sky and behold the glory Of God and are impressed with his power.

And then we go back to our lives. Kind of feeling powerless.

Overwhelmed.

By the problems and the debts and the maybe lonely or tempted or depressed as though the power of God Omnipotence of God is just some kind of abstract doctrine. God's all-powerful. But you know what?

I'm not and tomorrow is Monday and I'll be weak again. No, what Paula says here need to know that it is toward or for us who believe the power Is on our behalf? God's demonstration of that power. He says at the end of verse 19 and into verse 20 is according to.

That is the power is now the power is for us now is just like the power that quote he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and Seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. Okay, it's according to that.

In other words. He's saying it's just like that power. He used to raise Jesus from the dead and Send him to heaven. God's power that is for us in our lives now is of the same level of magnitude just as powerful as That in which he used to raise Jesus from the dead and take him up to heaven.

It is resurrection and ascension. Power and you need to know you need to know that when you're tempted to think You know, you're powerless.

You're overwhelmed.

Have too many problems too much strife in the family too much debt or loneliness or temptations. You have Resurrection and ascension power on your side. The power that raised Jesus from above everything that may come against you Is triumphant he says over rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named.

Now at that time people believed in these angelic or demonic powers Demi urges they might call them lesser gods spirits kind of in ranks like an army. Hierarchies just as people some people today believe in Wicca or sorcery or Astrological signs.

Somehow you're born under them and they control who you are. Feng shui kitchen gods. Spirits that must be placated. Your little sacrifice your jaw sticks or they'll cause you trouble. Jesus has been raised over all those powers now.

Paul here also is referring to human and Powers and authorities, I think for him spiritual powers human authorities. They were just all the same thing. Human authorities like like the King King Agrippa that he pled his case to in Acts chapter 27.

Other names that can be named tea trucks. Governors like Pontius Pilate emperors.

Presidents.

Judges your honor. Even abusive husbands. Every name that can be named King. Jesus has been raised Notice at the beginning of verse 21. He's been raised far above Them all and not only now. Not only is Jesus the way to victory in this life but he is the one who will put every enemy under his feet and First Corinthians 15 even death itself in the future in the age to come.

God verse 22 says. Has subjected. He notices has subjected. He's done it already. So has subjected everything to Christ putting putting it all under his feet and he gave there's a past perfect accomplished done.

Gave him gave Jesus as the the head the ruler the king over all things even over all your problems and in case you think. Well, yeah, but he did all that just for his own glory. It doesn't really help me.

It says that this Jesus who has made king of the universe is given as the head to the church the God the glorious father gave head over everything Jesus. To his assembly his gathering of people to God's people.

He is the father's gift to us.

Together.

Not only to rule us which is a blessing because left to ourselves will rule ourselves the wrong way He's given to us to lead us in the right way, but to rule everything. Every Adam every nation every virus every disease every ruler every authority.

Everything that you can name the father put them under Jesus's feet.

For.

Us. Well, what do you know? And he did it for us because we together are the body of Christ. We together he says are The fullness and here we get into so I'm not sure what all this means. Quite frankly I don't have full knowledge of this yet.

But we together are the fullness in those last two verses this passes the fullness the fullest expression on earth of him who fills everything in every way. Now many American Christians today think that it's just about them and Jesus and The church it's kind of like their local gym.

You know just like the gym helps you get in shape. The church helps them get in spiritual shape. But you know you can do without the gym, right? If you if you have enough self-control you do push-ups and jog on your own at home.

They think the same thing spiritually I can do without the church if I need to. I can just read the Bible and pray at Home, but here we see that what Jesus did and what he's doing now being the head over all things is for The church not just individuals and the church is his body.

Jesus's mission was to buy a church to get those the glorious father had Already redeemed and to bring them to him together and By being his people his body. We together are the fullness that is the completion of his plan.

We have their instruments through which he will rule all the universe more than conquerors. Because through us He will judge the world. Look at that last verse of that chapter. We are the fullness. We are the fulfillment of the one who fills all.

Now, I don't know Everything that that means but I know That it's great. It's so great that if you had only one thing to pray for for another Christian pray. That he or she knows that. What do you know?

You know God. You know that he is a glorious father. Do you know that Jesus is Lord of all? No matter what else is going on in your life may look totally out of control. But do you know that he is Lord of all.

You know that the Holy Spirit can open your eyes to see. See things that you couldn't see before things you never dreamed of do, you know, do you so know? That what he has called you to this such a great salvation.

That that that knowledge overcomes depression. When you're feeling poor. Do you know that you have a rich inheritance when you're feeling weak? Do you know that God has? Immeasurable power and that it is.

For you.

When you're feeling oppressed. Feeling on the bottom. Do you know that God has given us Christ to rule everything for us? Oh. You may have heard it before. No, Jesus is Lord. He fulfills everything. You may have thought.

Those are nice slogans.

You've heard them.

But did you know them? Do you know them now? Do you know?

God.

You.