Ephesians 1:17-23
Paul’s Kind of Praying (Part 3)
Introduction
Paul has given us a sneak-peek into his private prayer life. He has shown us that thanksgiving is a large part of his communion with God. And he has revealed that when he asks God to do something for other believers, he asks God to help them grow in what they know. Paul wants these Ephesians to be spiritually smart. He doesn’t want them to be spiritually dumb. In other words, he wants them to get schooled in the things of God. Add to/ enlarge/ increase/ expand your understanding in the knowledge God has made available.
Paul prays for 3 things: 1) Know God’s Person, 2) Know God’s Possession, and 3) Know God’s Power. I would encourage you today to carefully consider Paul’s words this week in your own time. In Sermon Study Guide #8, question #9 said, “What kinds of things do you see Paul prays for?” And you were supposed to make a list. Then you were supposed to compare it to your own prayer list to see if there were things that Paul prayed for that you need to start praying for.” That is what we’re doing here today. We’re going to look closer at the things Paul would pray for if he were leading the Church Prayer meetings. We’re looking at part of Paul’s prayer list.
Know God’s Person (v17b)
The point here is progress. Don’t stay limited in what you know of God. Don’t stay still in your faith. Go on. Get going. Move forward. Go on to new territory in your understanding of truth. Paul is praying for them to know more about God. And, by telling them that he is praying for these things he is pushing them on.
Progress is the norm in the Bible. Paul would have scoffed at the idea that someone can get saved and never change. Look with me to several passages. First, Ephesians 4:14-15. Paul just didn’t work to mature their faith, he expected them to mature from infancy. Next turn to 1 Corinthians 3:1-4. Notice the tone Paul has. He is disgusted with them because they are acting so immature in the faith. Paul was disgusted because he expected more from them. Turn to Hebrews 5:13-14. It is obvious that the author expected these believers to have matured in their faith. Turn to 1 Peter 2:2. Peter’s expectation is that believers would grow up in their faith.
The expectation in the Bible for Christians is progress. Progress in your character. Progress in your discipline. Progress in your knowledge. The question is: Do you expect progress of yourself? Are you growing in any way so that in the last 2 years you can identify how you’ve grown? I would challenge you to think about that this week and actually write it down. If you can’t think of anything then maybe you need to start taking more seriously the faith you profess.
And Paul wasn’t expecting anything of them that he didn’t expect of himself. Paul was a man who before he put any expectation on the believers he made sure he put it on himself. Turn to Philippians 3:12-14…. Paul expected progress in his own life before he expected it of others.
That’s integrity. It’s hypocritical to expect of others what you don’t expect of yourself. But the reality of how Paul lived was higher standard than other Christians had for themselves. Therefore, when Paul challenged the believers to raise the bar for themselves, he wasn’t telling them to raise it above what he was willing to live, he was calling them to raise it up to where he was already living.
There is an attitude in our day, and in the Church, that says no one else has a right to tell me how to live. Well, yes they do, especially if you are a professing believer and are plainly at odds with the Scriptures in your living.
Better living for God is directly related to better knowledge of God. Let me remind you of the structure of this letter. Chapters 1-3 are focused on doctrine while chapters 4-6 are focused on instruction. You might say that chapters 1-3 are for your head and heart where chapters 4-6 are for your hands and feet.
Knowing God better means knowing God as He is. We don’t know God as He is. In other words, we don’t think of Him correctly.
Know God’s Possession (v18)
Secondly, Paul prays that we know God’s Possession. Look with me at verse 18, “
In this verse, Paul wants the believers to know about a glorious inheritance. Paul has already talked about an inheritance in verse 14. There he mentioned our inheritance – the inheritance that we will receive.
But notice here in verse 18 that Paul is not talking about the Christian’s inheritance. He says, “…the riches of HIS glorious inheritance…” He is talking about God’s inheritance – the inheritance that He is going to receive.
Now this may sound a bit strange, but, Paul is saying in this verse that the inheritance God is going to receive is OUR hope. Notice he says that in the verse, “in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you…” What God is going to receive as an inheritance is the hope that we have. It sounds strange because we might ask, “What does someone else’s inheritance have to do with me?” It has everything to do with you, and everything to do with me. Let’s look at a few reasons why:
First, we are God’s inheritance. Paul says, “…His glorious inheritance IN the saints”. God’s inheritance that He is going to receive is us – the saints. Listen, the fact that we will in the future receive a rich inheritance is one motivation to live godly for Christ now. But, what we need to see is another perspective here. And I suggest that if we see it, we will not be the same in our Christian life. Here it is: we will not only receive an inheritance from the Lord but we will also be an inheritance for Him. While we look forward to what we will receive we also find great motivation to higher living when we look forward to the fact that we will be the prize being received. We will not only become rich in our inheritance, but, we are a rich inheritance – a glorious inheritance.
If we will be received by the Eternally royal and heavenly majestic God and His Son our Lord would we dare lower ourselves to a worldly way that is entirely disgraceful for those who are the possession of God Almighty Himself? Did He call us, adopt us, redeem us, forgive us, lavish us, inform us, seal us, and promise us all so that we could act as though He has not? My point is simply this: See what you are in Christ and you will not be the same. Chapter 4:1, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received..” Chapter 5:10, “…find out what pleases the Lord”. Then verse 17, “Do not be foolish, but understand what pleases the Lord’s will is.” And I would add: “Do it!”
Secondly, we will be a Glorious inheritance. He says, “His GLORIOUS inheritance in the saints.” Paul uses words like “rich” and “glorious” to describe this inheritance. He uses a phrase 3 times in this chapter, “to the praise of his glory” (v6, 12, 14). What He has done and is doing for us is so that He will be praised and glorified. He will inherit us and by inheriting us He will inherit praise from all creation as all creation marvels at His work done in us. Notice Ephesians 2:6-7, “…………..”
You see, while we live a life worthy of such a high calling, ultimately it is God who will make us a worthy inheritance for Himself. He is the One who began a good work in us and is carrying it on until the Day of Christ (Phil. 1:6). He is the One who will transform our lowly bodies to be like Jesus Christ’s glorious body (Phil. 3:20). He is the One who is transforming us into His likeness, from ever-increasing glory (2 Cor. 3:18) It is God who will finally when it is all said and done make us into the kind of glorious inheritance that is a suitable match for His own glory. He won’t allow anything less than glorious to be the condition of that which is going to be His own. He is glorious, and so, what is His will be glorious.
Thirdly, that we are (and we are going to be) God’s Possession is our hope. Let’s spend a moment on this awesome word, “hope”. The word hope is a word that the Bible uses in a radically different way than we use it today. People today say use the word hope and what they really mean is they “wish”. “I hope the Tigers win the world series.” Or, “I hope I can find a job after I graduate college.” Or, like Annie always said, “I hope to marry prince charming someday.” Or, “I hope the weather is nice for the baptism today”. Or, “I hope the pastor’s sermon isn’t too long today”.
When people use the word hope like that what they are saying is that they want something to be but they don’t know for sure if it will be. Hope used in this way expresses the desire for something, but, it has no certainty that something will be realized. “I hope I can change my life. I don’t want to be like this anymore.” Or, “I sure hope God lets me in to heaven when I die”.
This is not Biblical hope and we need to see that. When the Bible uses the word hope, it means that you know with certainty that something will happen and looking forward to it. Biblical hope is a confident expectation that what God has promised will come to be, and, you can’t wait for it to finally be here! There is no “wishing” with Biblical hope. Wishing realizes There is no “uncertainty” with Biblical hope. If you don’t have the conviction that what God said will be will be then my friend you do not have the hope the Bible gives.
Listen, you know what hope does? Hope gives you assurance today about tomorrow. When someone wishes, they realize they might be disappointed. Hope, however, knows there will be no disappointment. In Isaiah 49:23 God says, “Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed”. When you live with hope you are not the same as those who live with wishes. What you are waiting for will come to you.
Now I want to point something else out here. This hope in Ephesians 1:18 comes after you’re saved. You see, there is a hope that Paul talks about that is our hope in heaven, in other words, it is our hope that we are saved and on our way to heaven. For instance, let’s compare this passage with Colossians 1:4-5 “…………..” Here Paul is talking about hope that gives birth to faith and love. In other words, the hope of salvation here comes first, then faith and love. But, if you go back to Ephesians 1, Paul has already acknowledged that the Ephesians have faith and love (v15-16), and he says that since they have these, he is now praying that they would have another hope. It is a hope that has a slightly different focus than the hope in Colossians 1:4-5. The hope in Colossians comes before faith and love, whereas the hope in Ephesians is the hope that grows after faith and love.
Now this is important here: You see the hope in Colossians is what we will have in heaven. The hope in Ephesians, however, is what God will have in heaven – in other words, Who will have us for their very own in heaven becomes our focus as we grow in spiritual maturity.
When our life here begins to focus not on what we will inherit, but, what kind of inheritance we will be for God, we are growing. Turn with me to 1 John 3:1-3, “……….”
Let’s finish the chapter next week and conclude today.
Conclusion
Let’s finish today with the beginning. The beginning of a life that knows God. You can’t know God through religion. You can’t know God through reform. You can’t know God through being a good person. God will only allow you to know Him in one way. That is through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” The first step to knowing God is the most important step. It comes with a decision that is the most important decision in your life because it will determine your eternal destiny.
The first step to know God is to know His Son Jesus Christ. The most important thing you need to know in this life is that God loves you so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for your sins. The Bible says that every one of us are sinners and there is nothing we can do about our sins. Our sins are our fault and no one else’s.
You may be here today and have a life that you regret following you in that door – you know what I mean. You may wonder how God could ever love you. The Bible says He does love you. He loved you enough that He gave His Son – His one and His only Son – Jesus Christ for you. He sent that Son of His into this world so that He would be put up on the cross and when He died on that cross He paid the price for every single one of your sins.
That is love and that kind of love demands action. It demands a decision. Will you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God for the forgiveness of your sins and will you receive eternal life in His name today? You must decide today if you will believe in Him.
You might be saying, “I don’t know how to do that”. I want to help you do that. The Bible says that you must believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you will be saved. Everyone please bow your head a moment. If you know the Lord as your Savior then please pray for anyone here to come forward who does not. If you are here today and you want to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior then I want to invite you to come up here and I will pray with you to do that. Do not be afraid to come up here. Jesus said “Whoever acknowledges me before men I will also acknowledge Him before my Father and the holy angels in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men I will disown before my father and the holy angels of heaven.
Come forward and confess the name of the Lord and receive Him as your Savior and today you will be saved.
Paul’s Kind of Praying (Part 3)
Introduction
Paul has given us a sneak-peek into his private prayer life. He has shown us that thanksgiving is a large part of his communion with God. And he has revealed that when he asks God to do something for other believers, he asks God to help them grow in what they know. Paul wants these Ephesians to be spiritually smart. He doesn’t want them to be spiritually dumb. In other words, he wants them to get schooled in the things of God. Add to/ enlarge/ increase/ expand your understanding in the knowledge God has made available.
Paul prays for 3 things: 1) Know God’s Person, 2) Know God’s Possession, and 3) Know God’s Power. I would encourage you today to carefully consider Paul’s words this week in your own time. In Sermon Study Guide #8, question #9 said, “What kinds of things do you see Paul prays for?” And you were supposed to make a list. Then you were supposed to compare it to your own prayer list to see if there were things that Paul prayed for that you need to start praying for.” That is what we’re doing here today. We’re going to look closer at the things Paul would pray for if he were leading the Church Prayer meetings. We’re looking at part of Paul’s prayer list.
Know God’s Person (v17b)
The point here is progress. Don’t stay limited in what you know of God. Don’t stay still in your faith. Go on. Get going. Move forward. Go on to new territory in your understanding of truth. Paul is praying for them to know more about God. And, by telling them that he is praying for these things he is pushing them on.
Progress is the norm in the Bible. Paul would have scoffed at the idea that someone can get saved and never change. Look with me to several passages. First, Ephesians 4:14-15. Paul just didn’t work to mature their faith, he expected them to mature from infancy. Next turn to 1 Corinthians 3:1-4. Notice the tone Paul has. He is disgusted with them because they are acting so immature in the faith. Paul was disgusted because he expected more from them. Turn to Hebrews 5:13-14. It is obvious that the author expected these believers to have matured in their faith. Turn to 1 Peter 2:2. Peter’s expectation is that believers would grow up in their faith.
The expectation in the Bible for Christians is progress. Progress in your character. Progress in your discipline. Progress in your knowledge. The question is: Do you expect progress of yourself? Are you growing in any way so that in the last 2 years you can identify how you’ve grown? I would challenge you to think about that this week and actually write it down. If you can’t think of anything then maybe you need to start taking more seriously the faith you profess.
And Paul wasn’t expecting anything of them that he didn’t expect of himself. Paul was a man who before he put any expectation on the believers he made sure he put it on himself. Turn to Philippians 3:12-14…. Paul expected progress in his own life before he expected it of others.
That’s integrity. It’s hypocritical to expect of others what you don’t expect of yourself. But the reality of how Paul lived was higher standard than other Christians had for themselves. Therefore, when Paul challenged the believers to raise the bar for themselves, he wasn’t telling them to raise it above what he was willing to live, he was calling them to raise it up to where he was already living.
There is an attitude in our day, and in the Church, that says no one else has a right to tell me how to live. Well, yes they do, especially if you are a professing believer and are plainly at odds with the Scriptures in your living.
Better living for God is directly related to better knowledge of God. Let me remind you of the structure of this letter. Chapters 1-3 are focused on doctrine while chapters 4-6 are focused on instruction. You might say that chapters 1-3 are for your head and heart where chapters 4-6 are for your hands and feet.
Knowing God better means knowing God as He is. We don’t know God as He is. In other words, we don’t think of Him correctly.
Know God’s Possession (v18)
Secondly, Paul prays that we know God’s Possession. Look with me at verse 18, “
In this verse, Paul wants the believers to know about a glorious inheritance. Paul has already talked about an inheritance in verse 14. There he mentioned our inheritance – the inheritance that we will receive.
But notice here in verse 18 that Paul is not talking about the Christian’s inheritance. He says, “…the riches of HIS glorious inheritance…” He is talking about God’s inheritance – the inheritance that He is going to receive.
Now this may sound a bit strange, but, Paul is saying in this verse that the inheritance God is going to receive is OUR hope. Notice he says that in the verse, “in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you…” What God is going to receive as an inheritance is the hope that we have. It sounds strange because we might ask, “What does someone else’s inheritance have to do with me?” It has everything to do with you, and everything to do with me. Let’s look at a few reasons why:
First, we are God’s inheritance. Paul says, “…His glorious inheritance IN the saints”. God’s inheritance that He is going to receive is us – the saints. Listen, the fact that we will in the future receive a rich inheritance is one motivation to live godly for Christ now. But, what we need to see is another perspective here. And I suggest that if we see it, we will not be the same in our Christian life. Here it is: we will not only receive an inheritance from the Lord but we will also be an inheritance for Him. While we look forward to what we will receive we also find great motivation to higher living when we look forward to the fact that we will be the prize being received. We will not only become rich in our inheritance, but, we are a rich inheritance – a glorious inheritance.
If we will be received by the Eternally royal and heavenly majestic God and His Son our Lord would we dare lower ourselves to a worldly way that is entirely disgraceful for those who are the possession of God Almighty Himself? Did He call us, adopt us, redeem us, forgive us, lavish us, inform us, seal us, and promise us all so that we could act as though He has not? My point is simply this: See what you are in Christ and you will not be the same. Chapter 4:1, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received..” Chapter 5:10, “…find out what pleases the Lord”. Then verse 17, “Do not be foolish, but understand what pleases the Lord’s will is.” And I would add: “Do it!”
Secondly, we will be a Glorious inheritance. He says, “His GLORIOUS inheritance in the saints.” Paul uses words like “rich” and “glorious” to describe this inheritance. He uses a phrase 3 times in this chapter, “to the praise of his glory” (v6, 12, 14). What He has done and is doing for us is so that He will be praised and glorified. He will inherit us and by inheriting us He will inherit praise from all creation as all creation marvels at His work done in us. Notice Ephesians 2:6-7, “…………..”
You see, while we live a life worthy of such a high calling, ultimately it is God who will make us a worthy inheritance for Himself. He is the One who began a good work in us and is carrying it on until the Day of Christ (Phil. 1:6). He is the One who will transform our lowly bodies to be like Jesus Christ’s glorious body (Phil. 3:20). He is the One who is transforming us into His likeness, from ever-increasing glory (2 Cor. 3:18) It is God who will finally when it is all said and done make us into the kind of glorious inheritance that is a suitable match for His own glory. He won’t allow anything less than glorious to be the condition of that which is going to be His own. He is glorious, and so, what is His will be glorious.
Thirdly, that we are (and we are going to be) God’s Possession is our hope. Let’s spend a moment on this awesome word, “hope”. The word hope is a word that the Bible uses in a radically different way than we use it today. People today say use the word hope and what they really mean is they “wish”. “I hope the Tigers win the world series.” Or, “I hope I can find a job after I graduate college.” Or, like Annie always said, “I hope to marry prince charming someday.” Or, “I hope the weather is nice for the baptism today”. Or, “I hope the pastor’s sermon isn’t too long today”.
When people use the word hope like that what they are saying is that they want something to be but they don’t know for sure if it will be. Hope used in this way expresses the desire for something, but, it has no certainty that something will be realized. “I hope I can change my life. I don’t want to be like this anymore.” Or, “I sure hope God lets me in to heaven when I die”.
This is not Biblical hope and we need to see that. When the Bible uses the word hope, it means that you know with certainty that something will happen and looking forward to it. Biblical hope is a confident expectation that what God has promised will come to be, and, you can’t wait for it to finally be here! There is no “wishing” with Biblical hope. Wishing realizes There is no “uncertainty” with Biblical hope. If you don’t have the conviction that what God said will be will be then my friend you do not have the hope the Bible gives.
Listen, you know what hope does? Hope gives you assurance today about tomorrow. When someone wishes, they realize they might be disappointed. Hope, however, knows there will be no disappointment. In Isaiah 49:23 God says, “Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed”. When you live with hope you are not the same as those who live with wishes. What you are waiting for will come to you.
Now I want to point something else out here. This hope in Ephesians 1:18 comes after you’re saved. You see, there is a hope that Paul talks about that is our hope in heaven, in other words, it is our hope that we are saved and on our way to heaven. For instance, let’s compare this passage with Colossians 1:4-5 “…………..” Here Paul is talking about hope that gives birth to faith and love. In other words, the hope of salvation here comes first, then faith and love. But, if you go back to Ephesians 1, Paul has already acknowledged that the Ephesians have faith and love (v15-16), and he says that since they have these, he is now praying that they would have another hope. It is a hope that has a slightly different focus than the hope in Colossians 1:4-5. The hope in Colossians comes before faith and love, whereas the hope in Ephesians is the hope that grows after faith and love.
Now this is important here: You see the hope in Colossians is what we will have in heaven. The hope in Ephesians, however, is what God will have in heaven – in other words, Who will have us for their very own in heaven becomes our focus as we grow in spiritual maturity.
When our life here begins to focus not on what we will inherit, but, what kind of inheritance we will be for God, we are growing. Turn with me to 1 John 3:1-3, “……….”
Let’s finish the chapter next week and conclude today.
Conclusion
Let’s finish today with the beginning. The beginning of a life that knows God. You can’t know God through religion. You can’t know God through reform. You can’t know God through being a good person. God will only allow you to know Him in one way. That is through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” The first step to knowing God is the most important step. It comes with a decision that is the most important decision in your life because it will determine your eternal destiny.
The first step to know God is to know His Son Jesus Christ. The most important thing you need to know in this life is that God loves you so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for your sins. The Bible says that every one of us are sinners and there is nothing we can do about our sins. Our sins are our fault and no one else’s.
You may be here today and have a life that you regret following you in that door – you know what I mean. You may wonder how God could ever love you. The Bible says He does love you. He loved you enough that He gave His Son – His one and His only Son – Jesus Christ for you. He sent that Son of His into this world so that He would be put up on the cross and when He died on that cross He paid the price for every single one of your sins.
That is love and that kind of love demands action. It demands a decision. Will you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God for the forgiveness of your sins and will you receive eternal life in His name today? You must decide today if you will believe in Him.
You might be saying, “I don’t know how to do that”. I want to help you do that. The Bible says that you must believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you will be saved. Everyone please bow your head a moment. If you know the Lord as your Savior then please pray for anyone here to come forward who does not. If you are here today and you want to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior then I want to invite you to come up here and I will pray with you to do that. Do not be afraid to come up here. Jesus said “Whoever acknowledges me before men I will also acknowledge Him before my Father and the holy angels in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men I will disown before my father and the holy angels of heaven.
Come forward and confess the name of the Lord and receive Him as your Savior and today you will be saved.
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