Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Ephesians 1:15-19

As a pastor, or even as a follower of Christ in general, we should be committed to the act of prayer. We are often burdened with the great deal of need within the congregation; not in a bad way, but in a way that so often we don’t know what to pray or how to pray in a particular situation. As a pastor, so many expect you to have all the right answers, and the truth is, we are only men serving in the capacity to which God has called us.

If you were to ask any pastor what their greatest desire or prayer was for their congregation, it would more than likely have something to do with the spiritual growth, insight, and power of the individual members. Yes, we would like to see the physical health of the congregation be well. Yes, we would like all the relationships, marriages, and families to be loving and compassionate toward each other. Yes, we would like to see unity with in the body of the church. All of these go without saying. These are all things I believe every pastor commits their prayers to.

But if there was ONE prayer, ONE request, that could be made for the members of the church; it would exclude the physical, it would exclude the relational, it would even exclude the unity of the church.

If there was ONE prayer we could pray every day for our church, it would be for the spiritual growth, maturity, and insight of the individual members.

If the church as a whole were to experience exponential growth in spiritual maturity, all the other concerns, save the physical possibly, would fall into place. Relationships are healed and strengthened in spiritual maturity. Disunity is cleansed and disappears in spiritual maturity. Attendance numbers are impacted by spiritual maturity. All these things come back to a single element of the Christian walk; spiritual insight, strength, and maturity.

Where we find the absence of these in our churches, and among its members, is when we lack that maturity. And maturity does not automatically come with age. There’s an old adage that says growing older is not optional, but growing up is. Spiritual maturity does not happen on accident; it is an intentional act of the believer. It is purposed and planned. Simply showing up does not guarantee growth, it’s an act of purposed will.

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In our text for tonight, we see Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus. A prayer for the people to have spiritual insight, strength, and growth. If the church can accomplish this through the power of the Holy Spirit, the church will see that it can accomplish anything. BUT, this also comes with a heavy price tag that not all are willing to pay for.

Ephesians 1:15-19

15 This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.

I. Ephesian Influence

The first thing we see Paul mentioning in verse 15 and 16 is the fact that what the church in Ephesus is doing, is being heard not only locally, but also being heard around the world. The word had gotten back to Paul while in prison of the faith the church had. This is not an unsaved group of people, but a church that has a strong faith in the Lord.

Secondly, Paul acknowledges not only their faith, but the work they are doing in caring for the saints. While some churches, i.e., Corinth, are being chastised for their treatment of the saints, causing great divisions within the church, Paul acknowledges that the church in Ephesus is striving to care for each other and to share the love of Christ with all.

But even with the great faith of the church and their love for the saints, Paul is well aware that a lack of growth can and will lead to these two areas of the church life beginning to disappear. A lack of growth will lead to a failure in the faith, and a lack of growth will diminish the love for the saints. Failing to grow in our walk with the Lord turns our care and love inward instead of outward or upward. In this case we become more focused on what it is that I want and need, instead of doing the will of the Father and striving for the care of others. To this note, Paul knows its necessary for the church to mature and grow in order to stay faithful and loving.

II. Paul’s Prayer

Because of this desire of Paul’s, he spend a great deal of time in prayer for the believers in Ephesus. The prayer we find in verse 17 and 18 is replete with strong desires for the church.

Ephesians 1:17-18

17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledgeof Him. 18 I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints,

The first thing Paul prays for is that the Lord would fill the church with the “spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” Our desire in all things should be to have a greater understanding of the knowledge of God. To know God or to have knowledge of God, is much more than knowing ABOUT God. You can always find someone who will claim to know about God; they believe God exists; they trust this is His creation. But in all that, they do not KNOW Him; they do not have an intimate understanding of His person, His character, His nature. They cannot decipher the will of God, because they do not have the revelation of such knowledge.

Paul gives three essential pieces of knowledge that must exist if we, as believers, are to grow in our faith.

1. A Spirit of Wisdom

A spirit of wisdom comes only from God.

This is a spirit within man that desires the wisdom of God. We have mentioned before that knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing. Knowledge is knowing what or who something is, while wisdom is understanding how or why something works.

The knowledge of God says we know WHO He is. The wisdom of God say we understand HOW He works.

To have this wisdom, we must have an understanding of His nature and person.

If I have the wisdom of God which says He works all things for my good and His glory, I can look at trials and tribulations in a different light. Instead of seeing them as simply an isolated event that takes place in my life, I see them as the hands of a loving God moving all parts of my life toward His direction.

To gain this wisdom, I must have a spirit that desires such wisdom.

In seeking for that, I must be willing to reach out to grasp the wisdom. I must have a spirit that hungers and thirst for such wisdom. I must have a spirit that seek that wisdom. We cannot sit idly by and expect such wisdom to just happen. It takes an action on our part, through a spirit of wisdom, to make that desire a reality.

To possess the wisdom of God, I must have a spirit that knows His character, His love, and His truth. I must live in such a way where this is all manifested in the fruits of my life. When we come to the understanding of how the wisdom of God impacts every area of our life, we will seek that wisdom with everything that is within us.

Matthew 7:24

24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock.

James 1:5

5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him.

Both these versus show us action that must take place with a spirit of wisdom; one that desires the wisdom of God so we put our words to actions, and we seek that wisdom which we do not possess.

2. A Spirit of Revelation

Second, to grow in our wisdom of God, we must have a spirit of revelation. This is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us that pushes and moves us toward a greater understanding.

It is the Holy Spirit which does the revealing of God’s nature, will, and wisdom.

This is not a wisdom that is achievable through the mind of man.

1 Corinthians 2:9-12

9 But as it is written:

What eye did not see and ear did not hear, and what never entered the human mind— God prepared this for those who love Him.

10 Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.

Just as having a spirit of wisdom requires effort, a spirit that seeks after that wisdom, having a spirit of revelation also requires work on our part.

We must have a spirit that drives after God, that seeks knowing God greater, and a spirit that hungers and thirst for God.

The Holy Spirit will come and dwell within the believer, but will not force the believer to do what he or she is not willing to do. If we do not maintain that drive and hunger for the wisdom of God, the spirit of Revelation will not be at work in our lives. Again,

we cannot sit aside and expect the Lord to simply reveal His will and nature to us if we are unwilling to seek after it.

I joke around and say that my study process when I was in college was to sleep with my textbook under my pillow, hoping to absorb the information by osmosis. This is a passive approach to gaining knowledge. Nobody, I hope, does this, and actually expects it to happen. Wisdom and understanding must take an active approach. I cannot know the voice of God if I never talk to Him. I cannot know the will of God if I never ask about it. I cannot understand the love of God if I don’t seek after it.

It is only when I make the conscience decision to run after this wisdom, does the spirit of revelation begin go have an impact in my life.

James 4:8

8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

3. Eyes of the Heart Enlightened

Finally, to grow in the understanding of God, we must have the eyes of our heart enlightened. Just as the eyes of our HEAD must be opened to see the light of day, so too must the eyes of our hearts be opened to be enlightened to the wisdom of God.

You will not discover the wisdom of God with a heart which is closed of to God.

An open heart allows us to focus our attention and affection on God.

2 Corinthians 4:6

6 For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

The understanding of God is not simply a matter of the mind, but is much deeper, it’s a heart issue. We can know all things concerning God, we can quote His scripture verbatim; but if our heart is not enlightened to the understanding of God, we are not growing.

III. Results of Knowledge

When we have a spirit of wisdom and a spirit of revelation that seeks fervently for the knowledge of God, we find the results are rewarding.

1. We come to the hope of God’s calling

The hope of the believer’s calling is all the spiritual blessings we discussed in Ephesians 1:4-10. I won’t go back over them, but they are eternal blessings. To put them in the simplest of forms,

God has called us to stand before Him as Jesus did, in perfect righteousness.

2. We come to know the glorious riches of His inheritance

We come to know that we are God’s chosen possession in Christ.

We are His inheritance, His heritage as children of God; co-heirs in the Kingdom with Christ.

We will reign and rule in the millennial Kingdom and inherit our place in eternal glory.

3. We come to know and experience the immeasurable power of God.

Paul expands on the discussion of God’s power in the next section of our text. But, the final result of fervently seeking the wisdom of God is that that power is experienced by the believer.

It is a power that contains the immeasurable greatness of God that works out of HIS vast strength.

We discover that we posses the same power which rose Jesus from the grave. We will look more at that power next week. But let me end with this:

Ephesians 3:20

20 Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—

The power of God is able to do more than we can imagine or dream up.

The power of God transcends the human experience and mind.

We receive His power, His inheritance, and His hope.