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Pastor Mike preaches Ephesians 1 (part 2).
Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, ìBut we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour ,î so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isnít for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as weíre called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.
Hereís our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Not there in the original, this was one letter that Paul wrote by the inspiration of the Spirit of God to the church at Ephesus, and other churches would receive it, and 2 ,000 years later weíre also studying it because it comes from God, and God is, of course, just as relevant for today as sin is relevant in righteousness is.
I normally take, I donít know, two or three verses at a time to preach through, but Iíd like to preach through Ephesians in 12 weeks. There are six chapters, so half a chapter per week. This is the second week, and so Iím going to try to finish the book of Ephesians, finish the chapter one, and basically, if youíd like an outline, big picture, there are three sentences in these 23 verses.
In English, it looks like there are many sentences, but in the original language, the Old Testament is written in Hebrew mainly, and the New Testament is written all in Greek, and there are three sentences, and the three sentences are our outline, verses 1 to 2, the preface, kind of an introduction, verses 3 through 14, the praise, and then verses 15 through 23, the prayer.
So if you like outlines and you like to see progress and where weíre going and how weíre moving through things, the preface, the praise, and the prayer, and that is Ephesians chapter one. And this, by the way, is one of those chapters that just is wonderful.
Sometimes itís hard to preach other passages, like the Witch of Endor would be hard to preach. Iíd still preach it, but itíd be hard to preach. Ephesians chapter one, if I had kind of a random thing at seminary class and I was assigned as a young preacher, Ephesians chapter one, I would think, ìThose poor other guys, what did they get ?î.
And itís exciting, because itís all about who the Lord is and what Heís done. You have regularly and often have read Ephesians to your heartís joy and to your heartís content. The preface, the praise, and the prayer.
Now last week we saw the preface, and weíll just have a little bit of a review, not a long review, but some. Ephesians chapter one, verse 1, ìPaul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who areÖî and in the original it just said, ìin blank ,î like you would fill it in.
A few of the manuscripts said Ephesus, but the oldest ones, the best ones, had a blank there. So this is what we call a circular letter. It would just be filled in Ephesus, in West Boston, wherever it might be, itís good information for all churches.
ÌÖto the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus. And Paul, like a good pastor, wants his people to have assurance. If youíre here and youíre not a Christian, I donít want you to be sure or to have assurance.
But if you are a Christian, thatís one of the things we do on Sundays, is to come and hear from Godís Word to remind us that itís not our relationship with God, what we do to God, our works unto God, our merit unto God, somehow pleases Him so that weíll be accepted.
No, we are accepted by God, by free and sovereign grace. And every day we wake up in a works-oriented world and we need to hear this language, maybe the most difficult language in all the world to understand.
I heard Mandarin is hard to understand, I heard Navajo is difficult to learn, but thereís the language of the Gospel thatís impossible to understand without the Spirit of God. And itís impossible to understand by yourself without revelation.
Every week you need to hear from the pulpit, ìDear Christian ,î things like verse 2, ìGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ .î Instead of wrath coming to you, instead of Sinai coming to you, instead of what our sins deserve coming to us, no, grace and peace.
If you want to summarize all the New Testament, if you want to know how to summarize this book, it could probably be with those three words, three English words, grace and peace. Peace, peace being weíre okay with God, we were unreconciled, now weíre reconciled.
No longer at war, but at peace. Grace, not just unmerited favor, but demerited favor. We earned His demerit and now we have grace. So far everything about this book is God-centered. I like to talk about me, enough about you, letís talk about me, but Paul wonít do that.
Paul wants to make sure itís God-centered and then we move to the praise. I donít know if you know that Diana was at Ephesus, one of the seventh wonders of the world and I heard her construction was precise, elegant, wonderful and some writers say, ìBut the way Ephesians is constructed, more precise, more wonderful .î The praise sentence, verses 3 -14, all one sentence in the original and itís a triune praise.
Verses 4 -6 talk about the Father. Verses 7 -12 talk about the Son. Verses 13 -14 talk about the Spirit of God. You have the Father selecting, you have the Son sacrificing, you have the Spirit sealing.
Everything about it is this praise, do you notice verse 3, ìBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ .î Itís supposed to promote praise, itís supposed to make you think, ìMan, this is amazing, this is wonderful what God has done .î Some call it a praise psalm, I think they could be right and at the end of verse 6 we saw last week, it ends with this praise.
When you talk about the Father electing, it talks about praise. At verse 12, how does it end? After the Son redeems, and we learn about that, it talks about praise and in verse 14, the same thing happens to the praise of His glory.
Everything about this triune praise and the sovereignty of God and the plan of salvation, including the Sonís sacrifice and the Holy Spirit sealing is engendering praise, it should engender it out. Itís kind of like, you know, you put the tea, you put the water in the teapot and turn it up and itís got a little thing on the top, a little valve and before you know it, that teapot starts to what?
What does it do? Well, I didnít really want the sound, but thatís good enough, it starts to sing. Itís getting hot enough and something comes out and thereís this sound, itís just praise, itís like, Paul wants our hearts to be so hot before you know it, we just begin to say, ìGod, youíre wonderful, God, youíre amazing, God, youíre awesome .î One writer said, ìThe design of the apostle, therefore, is asserting the riches of divine grace toward the Ephesians was to protect them against having their faith shaken by the false apostles .î You know, one of the great things about learning true doctrine, about election, about redemption and about sealing, when false doctrines come along through false people, false hypocritical lie speakers as Paul calls them in another book, I just listen to what theyíre trying to sell me and I think, ìYouíve got nothing on the real gospel .î What youíre trying to sell me, ìDo good, be better ,î 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, ìYouíre saved by grace after all you can do .î Iím thinking, ìNow that I know this, why would I ever go to what youíre selling ?î Youíre selling me Pablum, youíre selling me, I donít know, some kind of waterless stew.
Is that such a thing? Itís locale, thatís the problem. You come to this passage and you say, ìIt protects me from false teachers ,î but also, it makes me think, ìMy salvation wasnít just like thought up overnight .î.
Yeah, what am I going to do about Abendroth in Omaha, I think he needs some help, what about this person here, what about that? Friends, you read this, itís planned. One purpose, one decree, no flowcharts, no plan B, this is the plan, the only plan of salvation.
And this is all about the Trinity. Spurgeon said, ìNothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the deity, the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity .î.
So Paul praises, as we saw last week, the Father for choosing, you see it in verse 4, ìEven as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world .î. When did God choose? How did God choose? He chose before the foundation of the world and that means He chose freely, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.
What does election do? It stimulates obedience, it stimulates faithfulness, it stimulates fruit bearing, but fruit bearing and obedience and faithfulness isnít the cause, itís the result, itís the fruit.
In love He predestined us, verse 5, ìfor adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace which He has blessed us in the Beloved .î.
Paul starts off by saying the Father should be praised because He chooses before the foundation of the world and in love He predestines. I asked last week, ìWhenís the last time you said, ìLord, thank you for choosing me, thank you for choosing me .î I praise you for that.
And by the way, Paulís not arguing for election. Now, I know thereís a lot of objections and Iím not so sure about this and some people get mad about election and so weíre just going to work our way through and let me just tell you why electionís true.
Paul doesnít do that. Paul is, ìThis is election .î He is saying, ìThis is a fact and you should accept it as a fact and you should accept it as a praiseworthy fact .î I mean, I guess I could ask it this way, did the Holy Spirit mess up by putting election in this section?
Did He make a mistake? Did He think, ìWell, you know what, He usually tried to inspire things well but this time He didnít quite make it .î One writer said, ìScripture is the school of the Holy Spirit in which as nothing is omitted that is both necessary and useful to know.
Therefore we must guard against depriving believers of anything disclosed about predestination in Scripture lest we seem either wicked, lead to defraud them of the blessing of their God or to abuse and scoff at the Holy Spirit for I have published what is in any way profitable to suppress .î He didnít make a mistake, He put this here up front, election, sovereign choice of choosing individuals for salvation freely, unconditionally before the foundation of the world.
Well, Paul goes on to praise God for the son, verses 7 through 12. I mean, he was talking about how great election is, how God chose us, remember God didnít have to choose anyone, He didnít, with His justice He didnít have to choose anyone.
He could have chosen all, thatís true, but He just chose some because thatís what God does. And now the second stanza of praise after the fatherís choosing is the son and his sacrifice. In Him, verse 7, we have redemption, Jesus, the way, the truth and the life.
In Him we arenít waiting for redemption, itís not like we hope we get it, weíll see on that final day, He made redemption possible, you have to do something, in Him we have redemption. This is the language of the Jews, right?
Israel redeemed out of Egypt, we redeemed out of the slave pit of sin. People say, ìWell, Iím free, I have free will as an unbeliever, Iím free to do whatever I have .î. The Bible teaches as weíll learn next Sunday, sin is like a vice grip, sin is like a ratchet, sin is like a cable tie, it goes one way and the more you sin, the more it constrains.
The sinnerís not free, heís a slave and he needs to be redeemed and to be redeemed you have to have a ransom price, you have to pay off the redemption price and the ransom price is the Lord Jesus Himself.
Romans 3, it says, ìBy His grace, through the redemption which is in Christ .î Galatians 3, ìChrist redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us .î Hebrews 9, ìHe, Jesus, entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption .î John chapter, Mark chapter 10, ìEven the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many .î Thatís the price of redemption, was His blood, you see it in the text right there, verse 7, ìThrough His blood .î His vicious, vicarious, bloody, substitutionary death and of course when you think about forgiveness you can think about it two different ways, you think about the word propitiation and expiation, both are true, propitiation says God is holy and therefore is wrathful against sin and Godís wrath needs to be assuaged or exhausted and thatís the word propitiation.
Expiation is when God forgives us and our sins go away and you can think also very quickly probably about the Old Testament when they had two animals and on one animal they laid their hands on their head of that goat and sent it into the wilderness by the hand of the man who stands in readiness and the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land.
Propitiation, Godís wrath assuaged, expiation, forgiveness, all our sins are gone, run away, forever gone, thatís what Paul is talking about here, youíre released from guilt, if youíre a Christian you are forgiven, released from all your guilt, that one particular sin I did ten years ago, released, itís gone, itís in the wilderness, God remembers it no more, Heís forgiven us all of our transgressions, Colossians 2.
Who would do that? What would motivate someone to do that? You see it in verse 7, ìDo you not, according to the riches of His grace, the triune God would do that ?î Why would He do it? Because Heís full of grace, which He lavished upon us, not fractions, not decimals, when I think of lavished, you know what I think of, the other day I was watching some kind of highlights or something, you know when a football team wins or a rugby team or soccer team, whatever, they have the big kind of Gatorade buckets and some of the big football players will come over and theyíll dump it on the coachís heads, right?
They did that to a coach the other day, but now with Gatorade, not with Propel or whatever these new ones are, they did it with mayonnaise, now thatís what Iím talking about, if you ever do that to me, youíre fired, but not just sprinkling on, not just a little dab will do you, itís lavished on, poured out, and He does it with wisdom too, verse 8, ìHe lavished this upon us in all wisdom and insight.
He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to the kind intention which He purposed in Him .î He could have done all this and never told us, and itíd still be true, but He wants us to know, why does He want us to know?
Because Heís a God who reveals, not conceals, and Heís a God as He reveals things to you, you respond. Let me teach you a little paradigm, revelation, response. You look at a baby being born, revelation of God and His wisdom, or you look at a sunset and you respond with, ìWow, amazing, tears, mouth open, gaping wide ,î revelation, response.
Itís the same thing with this kind of revelation too, you learn some secrets about God, found in Scripture, that only He knows about, but Heís told you, then you respond. Thatís why after the sermon we have a hymn, because youíve learned Godís Word, and hopefully youíre thinking, ìI need to do something about this, I want to sing about it .î Revelation and response, and so God wants the response from you, dear Christian, to be, ìPraise, praise, you say to yourself, ìHe made known to me the mystery of His will, this is not mysterious, spooky stuff, this is something was true, itís yet to be revealed, now He reveals it, now we know, now we praise .î Wiersbe said, ìBelievers are part of Godís inner circle .î We know why things are.
No wonder sometimes the psalmist says, ìWeíre smarter than our teachers .î When I sit in a classroom sometimes, I never thought I have a higher IQ than my secular teachers, but I think, ìI know the mysteries of the universe, because theyíve been revealed to me .î Why are they revealed, verse 9, ìAccording to the kind intention which He purposed in Him .î And you see those words, theyíre not throwaway words, grace, mercy, kindness, lavish.
Okay, think for a second, if itís purposed in God, if itís knowledge thatís already in His mind, because He knows everything and now He reveals it to us, why would we ever say, ìElection, new novel, redemption, new novel .î New stuff isnít good, but things that have been determined in eternity past now revealed to us, thatís good.
Some people have seen that movie, ìThe Greatest Story Ever Told .î I think itís a religious movie, isnít it, about Jesus? How about this, ìThe greatest story is told .î We know the story, God made known, He discloses, He didnít keep it to Himself, because itís according to His kind intention.
And now we come to verse 10. Itís interesting, verse 10 I call, ìRoute 110 .î How many people drove on Route 110 today? You either did that or you rode your snowmobile. Public transportation right out here.
Is it Route 110 or Highway 110? Route, so weíre going to call this Route 110. So every time you see Route 110, I want you to think of Ephesians 110. Now the worldís crazy, the worldís getting crazier, you look at everything and youíre like, this thing is just like fragmented, this thing is crazy, I wonder whatís going to happen with the whole thing.
Some of us are trusting in politicians, some of us are trusting in medicine, some of us are trusting in horses. Whatís going on, verse 10, ìAs a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth .î Lloyd-Jones called this passage, Route 110, he said, ìI do not hesitate to assert that we have in this verse the key to the understanding of the chief practical purpose of Ephesians .î This universe is going to be restored.
This universe is going to be taken care of positively. God did not just say, ìYou know what, wind everything up, let it go .î It might even look like thatís true sometimes, but thatís not what this verse talks about.
The Creator of the universe has a purpose for the universe. The God who plans out salvation includes planning out what the universe will look like. History is not circular, but linear. Thereís a goal, thereís an ending, and Paul does not want you to say, ìIím so despairing because of the world, Iím so pessimistic because of the world, I canít take it anymore, down, dour, depressed .î Remember, heís wanting to engender praise, and how do you engender praise?
When you talk about the Son. The Son redeems, youíre forgiven, but the Son is also going to take care of this entire universe. From Godís vantage point, everything is under His sovereign control, and moving perfectly, without exception.
Pink said Godís purpose was concerned with everything, whether great or small, good or evil. Now this word there, summing up in verse 10, if you have a New American Standard, or uniting in the ESV, it means to bring back together again.
Not just together again, but things were apart, and now they need to be together again. You can think about Biblical history, it starts off with a garden, and then thereís a fall, and then thereís chaos, and then thereís confusion with Babel, and then thereís all kinds of other stuff going on, but there is going to be the final consummation.
This is putting everything back together again. Now, Iíve been using Apple MacBook Pros for quite some time now, so I donít really remember, I think the last Windows I had were maybe Windows XP, or something like that.
Windows 95, on my SX386, or something, who knows what I had. Sometimes I would have to defrag the computer, get all the kind of bricks of data all put back together, because as you use it for a while, theyíre just all crazy.
The idea here is, Jesus, the Sovereign One, not only saves you, but Heís going to defrag the universe at the end of time. Does that make sense? Iím trying to contextualize this. Iím just kidding. The universe is going to be defragged.
1 Corinthians 15, ìWhen all things are subject to Jesus, then the Son Himself will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be in all .î Colossians 1, ìThrough Jesus reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
Though through Him I say whether things on earth are things in heaven .î That includes everything. Divine management over every single thing. The fall reversed, and the fallís effects reversed. Restoration of all creation from the effects of Adamís sin, and consequently our sins.
Verse 11, itís kind of interesting here. Youíre going to have to be careful when you read the Bible, because every time you read the word ìweî, it might not be ìweî, all of us. Itís tricky here. You have to read wisely.
Verse 11, ìIn Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we, who were the first to hope in Christ .î By the way, who was first to hope in Christ?
Whoís the ìweî? Jews! Iíll prove it. Let me keep reading though. ÌSo that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be to the praise of His glory .î Verse 13, ìIn Him you Gentiles also, in Ephesus, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the Holy Spirit, the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance, until we acquire possession of it to the praise of His glory .î.
Make sure when you read the ìweî in verse 11, and the ìweî in verse 12, itís the Jews, itís those first believers, then the Gentiles. Thatís Godís economy then. We move to section 3 here in our Triune Praise, verses 3 -14.
Letís take a look at verses 13 and 14 for a few minutes. This is the Spiritís sealing ministry. ÌIf you think you can lose your salvation, you already did, or you will. We lose things. Some of us canít even find our keys.
We canít find our wallets .î I mean, how many things do you have to check, right? You know how for guys, itís like, wallet check, phone check, keys check, 9mm check. I mean, thatís just how we do things.
I have this battery pack here for my amplification. Iím always thinking, ìWhat is that? What kind of gun is that ?î Wait a second, Satanís real, the worldís real, my own sins are real. I heard the profession right over there.
I still struggle with sin as a Christian. What if we can lose our salvation? Hereís the better question. Can the Holy Spirit lose you? Thatís the point. If you could lose, or He could lose, thereís no sense praising.
But since God can be praised and must be praised, what God starts, He finishes. If the Father elects, and the Son dies for, Iím positive the Holy Spiritís not going to fumble the ball. Verse 13, ìIn Him you also, whether youíre Jew or Gentile, youíve heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation.
The response of the Gospel is, ìBelieve .î Weíre sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Youíre not sealed with a force, itís a person, the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of His glory.
Youíre sealed. That word ìsealî is exactly what you think of with wax and a seal for an envelope to secure it. Thatís what that word ìsealî means. When they sealed the tomb of Jesus, because Pontius Pilate wanted to make sure the body wasnít stolen so the followers of Jesus wouldnít say, ìAh, heís been resurrected .î.
Thereís a seal, you canít get in. Seals mean ownership, this is my personal seal. But sealing mainly talks about protection. Iím protected, Iím safe, eternal protection. Psalm 37 there is preserved forever.
Hebrews 13, ìI will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you .î. Well, thereís another verse there, verse 14, ìWho is given as a pledge of our inheritance .î. A pledge, an earnest, a down payment.
Hereís a guarantee of our final salvation. Now, when I get down on my knee, as it were, somebody actually in this congregation, I think you did it even within the last week, did you not? You got down on your knee and thereís the New York City skyline at night.
Daniel Evangelista got down on his six foot four knee and he said, ìWill you marry me ?î Kelly said, ìYes .î. And then he gave her the down payment. He gave her the pledge. He gave her the wedding ring, the Erebon.
Thatís the word. The Spirit of God is in me. I know Heís in me. Heís convicting me. Heís encouraging me. And I know He now will keep His promise because He is the guarantee of my complete, full salvation.
Itís the first installment of the final payment. Itís a pledge of a business transaction, guaranteeing our future inheritance. All this talk about you can lose your salvation, ignores or distorts the work of the triune God.
The Father electing, the Son sacrificing, the Spirit sealing. Can God lose a Christian? May it never be. He, the Holy Spirit, is given to us as a pledge. Paul talks about the triune God. And as Gregory says, ìNo sooner do I conceive of the one, that Iím illumined by the splendor of the three.
No sooner do I distinguish them, that Iím carried back to the one. When I think of any of the one or the three, I think of them as the whole, and my eyes are filled. And the greater part of what Iím thinking escapes me.
I cannot grasp the greatness of that one, so as an attribute of the greater greatness to the rest. I contemplate the three together. I see one torch, but I cannot divide or measure out the undivided light.
If the Father saves you by election, the Son sacrifices Himself for you, the Spirit will seal you .î. And now we move to the third sentence. Weíve seen the preface, weíve seen the praise, and now the third sentence.
Thereís some argument if itís a complete sentence or two sentences, but weíll say itís one full sentence, verses 15 through 23. And this is the prayer. Okay, pastorally speaking, letís just think about this first.
Remember that old acronym A .C .T .S., A-C-T-S, to help us when we pray. Our default when we pray is often, ìI need, I need, I need help. Could you do this ?î And thereís nothing wrong with asking the Father for help.
But thereís everything right with framing things first. So the A .C .T .S. acronym, which is what? Whatís the A? Adoration, C? Confession, T? S? Good. What Paul does before thereís any kind of T, thanksgiving, he has given us, in verses 3 through 14, the adoration.
Itís the adoration, and now itís the prayer. The first part of the prayer is the praise, and now he moves to the thanksgiving. Not confession, but thanksgiving. Let me just say this. When you struggle with praying, why donít you start off with thinking about the triune God in election, redemption, and sealing.
Thatís how Paul is teaching you right here to do it. Instead of, ìOh God, I need this, and God, I need that .î Ian Hamilton said, ìHaving a hard time praying? Praise first. Reflect on Godís riches in Christ.
Pray for others is fueled by praise to God .î Thatís interesting. He is now going to pray for other people. Whatís Paulís fuel to pray for other people? Praising the triune God. And what would Paul pray for?
Thatís another good question before we look at this section. Oh, thereís a lot of persecution. Seven sons of Sceva are running around here, Temple of Diana. A lot of us need jobs. Canít get a job as a Christian around here.
We need health. Our health is bad. Is there anything wrong with praying for protection, for jobs? No. But thatís not what Paul prays for. What does Paul pray for? Verse 15, ìFor this reason, because I have 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 .î ìFor this reasonî, verse 15.
What reason? That points right back to verses 3, 4, all the way through verse 14. For the reason that God chose you in eternity past, for the reason why Jesus redeems you, for the reason why the Spirit of God seals you, Iíve heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and how you love other people.
And so I just keep thanking God for people like you, remembering you in my prayers. Thankfulness, intercession. You know what I like about Paul? He doesnít try to act cool. I wonder what our church would be like if weíd meet each other on Sunday morning and after the ìHi, how are you?
Howíd your week go ?î and ìWhat about the Patriots ?î or whatever we talked about. You know, Iím so thankful that God saves, elects, sons sacrifices and the Spirit seals. Youíve been on my heart all week.
I just thank God for you. Itís like weíre afraid to talk that way. He didnít try to say, ìWell, you know what? I am really thankful for you, but I donít really want to show it .î Kind of like my dad in 1965.
ÌI love you, Mike, but he canít say it, so I just have to assume it .î I thank God for you. I see what Godís doing in you and through you. I see the fruit of His election and the Sonís redemption and the Spirit sealing.
I see all that. I just have been praying this week. I thank God for you. Part of it is we know too much about each other, right? Weíre like, ìOh, great. Here comes that person again .î I thank God for you.
Iíve just been praying for you. I thank God for what Heís done for you. You heard the testimonies today. By the way, the three that got baptized, Iíd like you to stand at the door on the way out so we can just say, ìI thank God for what Heís done in your life .î Thatís what we were doing when we were crying and listening.
He said, ìI just donít stop praying for you, making mention of you in my prayers .î They started in the faith. Theyíre continuing. Theyíre elect. Theyíre redeemed. Theyíre sealed. You want to know the heart of joy?
Here it is. And now He moves in the prayer more generally. Donít go too fast. By the way, Heís not talking about you have to be on your knees. Heís not talking about prayer posture. Heís not talking about being in your closet.
Thatís all fine. But here Paul says, ìHereís what Iím praying, 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 .î Do you see it?
It doesnít really need exposition. What Paul is not saying is, ìI need new revelations. I need another Damascus Road experience. I need something outside Godís Word. I need feelings and subjectivism .î What does Paul pray for?
Well, we already have this knowledge of God. Weíve seen it in verses 3 -14 of the same chapter. Now I just want you to know that better. I want you to know God better, to know God deeper, not anything new, but a deeper knowledge of God.
This is a prayer for illumination. I want you to precisely know Him, intimately know Him, not just about Him, a deep, full knowledge of God, not just the facts. I mean, left to myself, Iím just kind of like that old 60s police detective show or whatever.
Remember Dragnet? What did he always say to the person who was a witness? And they just kept running on and on and on telling their own stories. What did he say to them? Just the facts, maíam. You pagans know every word in like every show, but I still thank God for you.
Okay, I just need the facts about God. I donít need to go any farther. Sinner, death, burial, resurrection, good to go. Donít have to go to hell at least, now I can go live my life. And here for Paul, I just want you to know God deeply.
By the way, in heaven youíll still be mining the riches of this kind of knowledge. Youíll know as youíre known, thatís true, but you wonít know infinite God ever. Youíll just know what Heís revealed and what a glorified mind can know.
Lord, Iíd like to pray for other people that they could get to know God better. Iíd like to know you better. This is eternal life, Jesus said, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus whom you have sent, personally.
It may give you, you see the text of spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Him. And thatís certainly in Godís word. Heís not talking about something outside of His word. Spirit of God doesnít do that.
And while the world says, get to know other people, get to know yourself, Paul says, I want you to know God through Christ. Thatís what I want. I want you to understand Him and believe Him, so you know Him better, so you can just see the wonder of it all.
So you too, 25 years after youíre converted, like Paul, praising God, the Father of glory, think God would answer that prayer? I would like to know you better, God. Iíd like other people to know you better.
I think we know the answer to that. Praying that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. Side note, eyes of your heart, we tend to think of this, we got head knowledge and heart knowledge, this is just the hardest 12 inches of the world.
But for Paul, he has heart enlightened, because your heartís like a mission control center. Your heartís not your emotions, although emotions can be involved, but Iím praying the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.
How can your heart be enlightened if your heartís just feeling? Well, your heart isnít feeling if youíre thinking like a Jewish person or a person reading the Bible. Iím struggling with my health, I have family members that are going through difficult times, weíve lost loved ones.
And Paul is saying, let me rejuvenate you, let me refresh you, let me reawaken you to who this God is. Psalm 13, consider and answer me, O Lord, my God, enlighten my eyes. Psalm 19, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
God, I used to be a pagan and I had my eyes, my spiritual eyes gouged out like Samson did. But now youíve given me eyes to see, could you just give me more clarity? Iím not asking about propositions, Lord, although thatís included.
Iíd like to have fellowship with you, to know you. And now Paul goes on to pray for three particular things in verses 18, 19 and part of 20. He prays for hope, inheritance and power. Hope, inheritance and power.
To know Christ is to know his benefits, Melanchthon said. And so now he prays for hope, inheritance and power, and youíre going to be surprised. First he says, so that you may know what is the hope of his calling.
Godís children, you dear Christian, need to know youíre a Christian. Thatís why as long as the elders are here, we are never going to go toward this kind of preaching, this Roman Catholic preaching in essence that basically assumes that none of you are Christians because you donít live up to Christianity.
It is the doctrine of assurance that is needed. Itís the doctrine of assurance that was part of the Reformation. That you may know what the hope of his calling is. Every child needs to know theyíre included in the family.
Because we mess up and then did dad kick me out because I did this, that or the other? My pagan dad, I did a lot of bad things growing up and my pagan dad never kicked me out of the house. And here Paul is saying, you know what, if pagan dads know enough not to do that, how much more a thrice holy God, and we need to know what the hope of his calling is.
Surety, hope, steadfastness. Mold described hope as faith standing on tiptoe. Iím just waiting for that future to come. First Peter 1 calls it a living hope. Hebrews 6 says, this hope we have is an anchor of the soul.
A hope both sure and steadfast and one who enters within the veil. We all know people who have loved ones who die and then they have no hope. Because theyíre not Christians. But we have hope and God wants us to know that.
He goes on not just for hope but inheritance. Okay, here we go. Youíre going to think that Iím a TV preacher right now when I read this. Youíre going to go, heís off the deep end, heís crazy, his teeth are a little yellow but his words are crazy.
Iím not kidding. Get ready, buckle up. Having your hearts, 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?
Who? Whose inheritance? If youíve got the NAS, that his is capitalized. Because his is his inheritance. He talked about our inheritance earlier. Guess whoís Godís inheritance? You. Wow. I almost kind of want to do that for a second.
That would not be appropriate. We are Godís possession. We are Godís bride. We are Godís special treasure. Unless people think Iím a crazy TV preacher, prosperity preacher. Itís all because of Christ.
Heís the head, weíre the body. If Israel was a prized possession, if Israel was the inheritance of God, well how much more for us? We have inheritance, verse 11, verse 14, but now Paul switches it. He wants us to know about God better and he prays that our hearts are enlightened and he wants to have now our hearts enlightened so that we can understand what are the riches of the glory of Godís inheritance in the saints.
You, Christian, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for Godís own what? Possession. That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
The people being Godís inheritance isnít foreign to the Old Testament. Psalm 2, ìAsk of me and I will surely give the nations as thine inheritance .î If the nations are thine inheritance, how much more individual Christians?
Nothing about us, itís all about the work of God. Heís the head, weíre the body, but when weíre in Christ, it all makes sense. F. F. Bruce, ìPaul prays here that his readers will appreciate the value which God places on them, his plan to accomplish his eternal purpose through them as first fruits .î Iím not saying God loves us and has us as an inheritance because weíre so great.
I always think about the illustration where you have makeovers, like beauty makeovers on your face and stuff. You ever watch those shows? I know some people do, they know every word of every show. Just the facts, maíam.
They donít pick pretty people to do it. Iím sorry if any of you have been there, sorry. They pick ugly people because they make them pretty. And then you donít say, ìWow, look at them, those people, look what they did to themselves .î You say, ìLook at the artist, look at the beautician, not the magician .î Whatís that old bumper sticker?
Itís the same thing here. I am not saying somehow innately because of who we are that somehow God values that. But I do know this, that if God values a sparrow, I think he values his bride more. I think thatís biblical.
Godís inheritance are the saints. Yes, itís amazing. Itís because weíre in Christ. Then he prays for power, he prays for hope, for inheritance, power. Verse 19 and 20, ìAnd what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might .î Greatness, power, working, might.
ÌThat he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places .î Is it going to happen? Am I going to have an inheritance? Will I be the inheritance?
Rome is the king, Rome is the power, Rome is the authority. Weíre just a bunch of Christians running around without any power. What kind of power is there to help me? Answer, Paul says, resurrection power.
What does it take to take a body thatís dead and raise it to life? Thatís the power of the resurrection. Lloyd-Jones says, ìAre you miserable, Christian, feeling that the fight is too much for you? And are you on the point of giving up and giving in?
You need to know the power that is working mightily in you, the same power that brought Christ from the dead .î ìWhat we need is not an experience ,î Lloyd-Jones says, ìbut to realize what we are and who we are, what God has done in Christ and the way he has blessed us.
We fail to realize our privileges .î He just, in these verses, just stacks on. He just stacks on word after word after word so that we might grasp Godís powerful election, Godís powerful redemption, Godís powerful sealing, all because of the power of the resurrection.
I think that works in the life of a person. Or, by the way, if I can just be nice about it, will my husband ever change? Will my wife ever change? Will my kids ever change? Theyíre Christian people. Itís called the power of the resurrection.
The surpassing greatness. See in verse 19, surpassing greatness of his power. Paul wants to convince you. He wants you to know that God is working on your behalf and will bring you all the way home, no matter what Satan, demonic forces, or Diana will do.
Verse 20, ìWhich he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heavenly places .î Thatís supposed to be encouraging. It is encouraging. Why would I want to despair?
I live in a corrupt world, thatís true, but I donít need to despair because God is at work in me to will and to work his good pleasure. Can God use me? The power of the resurrection, yes. And then he ends in verses 21 and 22, ìYou didnít think I could do it, did you ?î You didnít think, ye of little faith.
Well, you know, the Democrats are in control. Australiaís governmentís in control. Israelís governmentís in control. Massachusettsís governmentís in control. What can we do? How do we go about it? Everybodyís in charge except us.
We wouldnít run the world this way. Romeís not in charge. Caesarís not in charge. Whoís in charge? Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named. You give me a name and Iíll tell you thereís a power over that, a rule over that, an authority over it, dominion over it, every name that is named, not only in this age, but the one to come.
Why? Because God is a God whoís a sovereign, powerful, gracious God and he is going to protect his church. ÌAnd he put all things under his feet and gave him head over all things to the church .î Thatís supposed to encourage.
Everything under Jesusí rule and dominion. You say, ìWell, it doesnít look like it .î Of course, we have theological framework words like ìalready, not yet .î But Christ fills a church. Christ indwells a church.
Paul wants us to know that the greatness of God compared to other heavenly beings, principalities, powers, mights, dominions, the Lord exceeds those. You say, ìYeah, but Adam lost his headship. Adam lost his power.
Adam lost his dominion and authority .î Well, we see the reversal here because of the risen Savior, the Lord Jesus. And basically here, you know what I like? Paul is saying, ìYou have somebody you think is greater than the Lord Jesus, bring him on .î I used to sell Duracell batteries and itís a copper top and we had a competition called Energizer.
And Energizer had a guy on a commercial, Robert Conrad, and he would put a little Energizer battery right here and heís like, ìI dare you to knock it off .î Youíve seen that commercial, havenít you? Come on, I dare you to knock this off.
Thatís why Paul is just listing one thing after another after another. People thought Satan ruled things. People thought angels ruled things. Satan has power. Angels have power. But just give me a name who is above these persons in the triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit.
Every name, Isis, Diana, King of Kings and Lord of Lords only goes to one. And he puts all things under the subjection of his feet. Itís kind of like you didnít really buy all that and Iím just hammering the nail one after another after another.
I think you put the clinch nail in, you donít hammer it all the way in, you just kind of hammer it down into the wood just to make it nice and snug. Thatís what verse 22 is. And by the way, itís a military term.
Theyíre all under his feet because heís the general. Christ is the king. Thatís why, you know what? I donít bind Satan. I donít send him away. I donít try to loose him. I donít try to blame him for my post-nasal drip.
I donít do any of that stuff. Because of the Lord Jesus, right here, verse 22, heís the head. And this is still all tied to prayer. Did you get that? Hendrickson said, ìThe church is Christís body with which he is organically united.
He loves it so much that in its interest he exercises his infinite power in causing the entire universe, with all that is in it, to cooperate, whether willingly or unwillingly .î Ephesians chapter 1. Hasnít it been great?
Verse 1 and 2 is the preface. Verses 3 through 14, itís the praise. Verses 15 through 23, itís the prayer. Next week weíll look at Ephesians 2, 1 to 10, so make sure you read it in your congregation every day.
Letís pray. Father in heaven, you are to be blessed. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, we have. Father, would you help us in our prayer life? Give us wisdom. We donít need to pray for new blessings, new graces, new mercies.
We need to be reminded of the graces and mercies we have. Everything we have, we need. We just need to understand it better, to know you better. So I pray for that. I pray today, for Bethlehem Bible Church, that they would be given the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Jesus.
Having the eyes of their hearts enlightened, so that they, Bethlehem Bible Church, might know what is the hope to which theyíve been called. What are the riches of their glorious inheritance in the saints?
And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us, Bethlehem Bible Church? According to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Thank you for that, Lord.
Seal it to our hearts, in Jesusí name, amen. No Compromise Radio, with Pastor Mike Abendroth, is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church, firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of Godís Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.
Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. Weíre right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.