Eyes Wide Open
Notes
Transcript
15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Thursday was what we call ascension day, that is 40 days after easter.
This means that there are 10 more days until Pentecost which we see in Acts chapter 2.
You may be asking what this passage has to do with ascension day—This passage reflects the total Sovereignty of Jesus and our identity in the church as His body.
Just as we celebrate Christ’s ascension from earth to the right hand of God the Father, we also get to celebrate the ascension of our youth and young adults from one stage in life to the other.
Today we are all called to ascend into a deeper walk with Jesus.
15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
Paul is opening into a prayer here.
One fruit of a healthy walk with Jesus is a love and thanksgiving for fellow believers, His church, His bride.
If you are not praying for your family and for your church family please do, it will bless both you and your family.
It is hard to be mad at someone and pray thanksgiving and blessing over them.
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
Paul continues on praying for the enlightenment of his reader to complete nature of Jesus Christ.
Not for knowledge sake, but for the relational aspect of knowing Him better.
I started praying this over my family a while back, and some of the conversations that has come up has been awesome.
Some of them have been off the wall especially with my son.
He reminds me of a little Yoda kid, that conversation starts off with “ father, I was sitting on the sofa and was thinking…
BAM! some deep theological-philosophical-90’s deep cut thought comes out of his mouth.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
The condition of an enlightened mind is a surrendered heart.
-Alan Redpath
A spiritually enlightened mind is the only means of truly understanding and appreciating the hope and inheritance in Christ and of living obediently for Him.
-John MacArthur
(Young man gets out on his own and wants to do it his way… one day he looks back and sees the destruction of his ways)
Jesus is calling us to have eyes to see Him,
to have eyes to see our selves as He sees us,
to see each other as he sees us,
even the addicted as He sees us.
If we think ourselves as worthless trash, we treat ourselves as such, but when we see ourselves as Heirs in His kingdom, it changes our whole demeanor and posture of how we walk and do life.
(guy who treated college apartment as a home not a cheap motel, got his deposit back)
If we are Christians than that means we are temples, houses of God, how are we treating His home? how do we view it?
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
In short-these three verses tells us there is no name or power greater than that of Jesus.
MacArthur Study Bible NASB (Commentary)
God’s great power, that very power which raised Jesus from the dead and lifted Him by ascension back to glory to take His seat at God’s right hand, is given to every believer at the time of salvation and is always available (cf. Ac 1:8; Col 1:29).
Paul therefore did not pray that God’s power be given to believers but that they be aware of the power they already possessed in Christ and use it.
As a child I would have been spared a lot of dark and scary nights had I understood this… But it also gave me the ability to stand in confidence.
(share about the Name of Jesus over the darkness)
(share about the psych pt who asked why I believe.)
22 And He put ALL Things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over ALL Things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
All things must surrender to Jesus, and there will be a day when all will surrender to Him, we can bow now and be in His glory as His heirs, or we can do it later as we are cast away.
Just as Paul prayed for the enlightenment of the church of Ephesus, I pray for yall, and my family and I encourage you to pray like wise.
Take Home?
Are your eyes open?
If they are not and you would like prayer come see me or someone else you trust.
