Untitled Sermon

Introduction

I emailed Pastor Terry with a few ideas for what I might preach today. One of those was — I have recently spent a good deal of time there. He responded and asked me to cover Genesis; he also mentioned that one of you asked him to look at Alistair Begg’s survey of evangelicals in the United States. I hope to do what he asked me to do, but this whole exchange with Pastor Terry encouraged me.

It is not every small town that has a pastor who will spend his energies for the joy of the nations in Christ while also closely attending the needs of his own people.

And it is not every pastor that has a people that will allow him to spend his energies for the joy of the nations in Christ or that he would describe as “like a sponge, soaking in what you say. They are hungry for truth, eager to learn,” as Pastor Terry did to me. In fact, my several classmates who have preached here have, to a man, said the same thing. So, it seems to me that God has given you a very good gift in Pastor Terry. And he has given a very good gift to Pastor Terry in you.

Ephesians 1:15–23

For 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, 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, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

I’m not preaching from today; Pastor Terry asked me to preach from , so please turn there. However, Paul asks God to give the Ephesian believers the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God by enlightening their heart eyes so that they would know the hope to which God had called them, namely: their rich, glorious inheritance and God’s great power that he has worked on their behalf by raising Jesus from the dead and putting him on a throne where he has authority over every tyrant, and over every president, and over every demon, and over Satan himself, and where every believer also sits in victory and power as Jesus’s body.

In short, Paul asks God to send his Spirit to open the dim heart eyes of believers so that they can joyfully believe and hope in their eternal victory over every spiritual power in Jesus. And that’s my same prayer for you today. God inspired Moses to write down how he created the universe for your joyful hope in the victory of Jesus.

Back in October, Pastor Terry preached a sermon on corporate sin from . He said this, “I watch very sincere young men head off to seminaries, excited about learning from God’s word, excited about becoming a pastor because God’s called them. They’re full of energy, full of excitement, full of joy. And then as soon as they finish cemetary, excuse me, seminary, they go to their church — the joy is gone. Somewhere along the way, our seminaries are failing the churches, as we’ve gone for secular theology, as Bible has been jettisoned, as we have our various intellectual reasons and edifices built up for why it has to be understood in this way: “God doesn’t really speak in that way. We qualify the Bible… We know better now. We’re sophisticated, we’re a 21st century church… “A new spirit for a new age.”