Ephesians 1:15-23

Ephesians 1:15-23

Introduction

Any significantly younger siblings, nieces/nephews/cousins? Someone who you remember when they were a baby? Babies don’t know how to talk or do other things automatically. They don’t learn how to by reading books. How do babies learn how to talk and do things? Watching and imitating those around them.

Or tying shoes. We didn’t learn just by being told how to do it. We watched others do it. They showed us how.

We need role models. We need people to show us how things are done. Tonight, Paul is going to be our role model. We are going to seek to imitate him as he imitated Christ. More specifically, we are going to seek to imitate Paul’s prayers. Our passage tonight, Ephesians 1:15-23, is a prayer. We can always learn how to pray better.

I shared last week in our boys’ small group about my son’s prayers. My four-year-old didn’t start praying by himself. He has learned how to pray from watching and listening to me. While it started very basically (rote prayers, “thank you God for…,” “please, do/give…”), he slowly started to grow in his prayers. So, imagine you’re like my son and you’re learning how to pray.

Read Ephesians 1:15-16.

· When Paul prays, he remembers them. We know from other passages in Scripture that Paul prayed frequently. “Night and day.” This passage doesn’t say how often Paul prayed for the Ephesians, but it does say that when he prays he remembers them.

· Note his Thanksgiving for believers

o Something to imitate.

o “I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people.”

o I have not stopped giving thanks for you.

o How often do we rejoice in others’ faith and love? How often do we thank God for that? If you’re like me, it is not often enough.

o Ask yourself what animate you? What gets people going?

§ Spotify example: CD’s, cars with cassette players. iTunes. Then, SPOTIFY! I was wanting to tell people about it all the time.

§ Winning a championship.

§ How thankful are we for the faith and love of other believers?

o Too often we complain and fight

§ Divisiveness of politics and social issues in our congregations

The content of his prayer for them.

· Give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.

o Not that God would give us the Holy Spirit for the first time

o But that the Spirit would manifest its power in a certain way.

§ “Spiritual Wisdom” vs. “spirit of wisdom”

· Define wisdom: Think “insight.” Not “information.”

o Information age. Google. Smartphones.

o Insight and understanding of reality, how things work, how to respond.

· Revelation: This isn’t stuff that you could learn from google. This isn’t something that you just learn through observation. The Gospel is divinely-revealed.

o This drives us to humility. We are dependent on God to reveal stuff.

· “So that you may know him (God) better.” Ultimately, the purpose is that we would know God better. Again, this isn’t just information about God but intimacy with him. Facts about my wife, but you wouldn’t have the intimate familiarity and relationship with her.

o “Have you ever wanted to know God better? Have you ever wanted to know what to think or do in a situation? And maybe you know that you could look to the Bible, but it just seems too confusing and weird?

o We need God to give us spiritual wisdom. This isn’t stuff that you will just figure out on your own.

· Tie in 1 Corinthians 2

o Problems in the Corinthian church.

o Paul contrasts the values of their world with the values of the Gospel.

o 1:18-2:5 = The foolishness and weakness of the message, recipients, and messenger. Read 2:4

o Read 2:6-8, 10-16.

§ Our hope, our future, and his power are not known to the world.

§ Expect rejection, disbelief, and mockery.

· “Since you have had the eyes of your heart enlightened.”

o Interesting issue with regard to the syntax of this clause

§ Humility in translation.

o This is probably a parenthetical idea that is the foundation for Paul’s prayer.

§ Since God has already opened the eyes of their heart, it wouldn’t be too much for him to give them spiritual wisdom.

o Note: Christians have had the eyes of their heart enlightened

§ Non-believers have not had their eyes opened.

§ We must be wary. It is not that we cannot learn things from non-believers. But we should understand that there can be subtle corruption.

· Jonathan’s sermon

· World’s wisdom

· Or even the disregard of wisdom and thoughtful reflection to promote hot takes.

· “That you may know”

o After the aside of 18a, this returns to the content of the prayer begun in v. 17.

o Give you the spirit so that you may know 3 things.

§ Hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.

o What is the hope to which he has called you.

§ Past (These three things break down to a past, future, and then present).

§ Objective hope, not our subjective hope.

§ He has called you

· To the hope that is being present with God.

§ Remember that he has called you. That he loved you. He wanted you.

o What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

§ Future (Looking forward to believers being brought together with God and Christ in heaven).

· This likely doesn’t refer to our inheritance in heaven, but of him inheriting us.

o You are a rich and glorious treasure for him.

o Self-acceptance and self-esteem

§ You were depraved. You were dead in your trespasses (2:1). You are sinful.

§ You are, in Christ, being made perfect and whole.

§ You are beloved

§ Don’t go looking for value or worth in other things.

· Grades, parents, boyfriends or girlfriends.

o What is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.

§ Present (Paul spends more time on this topic because it is probably particularly important for us to know. His power is presently available.

§ Great power operating for us who believe

· It doesn’t say that this power is dependent on the strength or constancy of our faith.

· It says that this power is for you by virtue of the fact that you are a believer.

§ What is this power? This is the power that he displayed in Christ.

· Raised him from the dead

· Seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.

o Above all rule and authority and power and dominion.

§ Probably evil angelic forces (cf. Eph. 6)

§ But it could be human governments

§ But if Christ is over angelic rulers, then certainly he would have greater honor, power, and authority than merely human rulers.

o Above every name or title

§ Pastor. Dr. Husband. Wife. Senator. President. Etc.

§ Christ, the Lord, is superior.

o “Not only in this age but also in the one to come” This preeminence is not just present, but also future.

§ Sports analogy. Christ has better longevity than Tom Brady.

o All things are under his feet.

o God gave him to the church as the head of all things

§ Head likely emphasizes preeminence, but here it certainly has the idea of authority.

§ Not a pastor. Not a pope. Not a creed.

§ Christ is the head.

o The church is the body.

o Review that point: God’s power, which raised Christ from the dead and seated him above everything, is available to you. God is more powerful than everything in the universe, so he was able to install him guy where he wants him.

Prayer likely ends here in verse twenty-three on the resounding note of Christ’s dominion, so let’s review it briefly.

· Paul’s thanksgiving for the people’s faith and love.

· His prayer that they would have the spirit of wisdom -> so that they would better know God -> and then Paul listed all sorts of things for them to know and understand about their relationship with God.

Gospel: I don’t want us to feel bad or guilty if our prayers are not like Paul’s. The passage doesn’t say that you’re sinning, if your prayers aren’t always like this. Some of you might feel like failures. Maybe you find it hard enough to even pray at all, let alone prayer such a spiritual prayer like this. Or maybe you think that God won’t want to answer your prayers, since they aren’t like Paul’s.

· Don’t miss the point of prayer. It is not about you and your worthiness or the quality of the prayer.

· It is about humble dependence on God and his gracious provision.

o Child-like faith.

o Faith like a mustard seed.

o Groanings too deep for words.

· Also, remember that God will answer a prayer for deeper, more consistent prayer.

o Kid asks for Mac and Cheese versus vegetables.