Knowing Jesus
Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted
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Last week we started looking at the book of Ephesians as our sermon and study guide for the next few weeks.
Ephesus was located on the coast of the Aegean sea on the southwestern corner of present day Turkey.
Ephesus was the third largest city in the Roman empire. Its population is estimated to have been around 250,000 during the time of early Christianity.
Ephesus had a large Jewish constituency, buy also included many Greeks, as well as many Roman citizens.
Ephesus as a whole worshipped the Goddess Diana , also known as Artemis. Greeks referred to her as Diana while the Romans called her Artemis. Diana was the “goddess of fertility” and frequently looked upon to bring good fortune and love to couples.
There were silversmiths in Ephesus who made their living by creating small silver statues of Diana. They did quite as good business as Ephesus would have been a prosperous city. There was a huge temple to Diana, stadiums and theaters which would have entertained many visitors to the city.
With the help of the early Christians Paul, Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos the Christians began to have strong impact on the city ultimately leading to a riot because the true worship of God was hurting the business of the silversmiths in Ephesus.
Paul first visited Ephesus in Acts 18 briefly stopping there after leaving Corinth. He went to the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews but was unable to stay for any length of time. Acts 18:19 tells us that he left Priscilla and Aquila there and was later joined by Apollos. Look what Acts 18:24 - 26 says about him:
Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
Paul was able to return later and we read about time there in Acts 19.
Acts 19:1 “While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples”
According to verse 8, Paul spent 3 months there preaching and teaching. And interesting note is that the believers Paul found there had not been baptized into Jesus, saying they had been baptized into John’s baptism. Once Paul explained about baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit, the believers there were baptized Acts 19:5
On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
So Paul and the early Christians were quite successful establishing a church in Ephesus.
Paul visited again on his third missionary journey ultimately spending two years in Ephesus.
As we said last week, Ephesians in one of the “prison epistles” written by Paul when his was under house arrest in Rome.
It is evident by his writing that he held a great fondness for the Ephesian Christians.
Last week we looked at the first 14 verses of Chapter 1 where Paul noted that the Christians in Ephesus were blessed because they had been:
Chosen by God
Adopted as Sons and Daughters
Sealed with the Holy Spirit
Today I want to move on and look at the rest of chapter 1. Let’s begin by reading the rest of chapter 1 beginning in verse 15
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
It is evident after reading this chapter the Paul dearly loves the Christians from Ephesus.
While he was in prison Paul would have had lots of time to think, study and pray. He would have spent much time relieving his travels to the various cities in the Roman Empire and would surely have reminisced about the people he had met and grown to love.
The Ephesians were no exception to these memories of Paul.
He makes it clear that he has not forgotten them.
I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
The Christians in Ephesus were living in a city that worshipped false gods. They had been opposed by the silversmiths whose livelihood faith in the one true God was attacking.
They had survived a near riot, yet they must have remained strong and faithful.
The fact that Paul remembers them and their faith so strongly is a testament to the fact that they were living their lives as God would have wanted. The citizens and visitors of Ephesus would have heard about God. They would have seen that these Christians were different, and Paul can’t stop thanking God for them and their faith!
In this passage Paul offers two things in which he hopes the Christians can grow and mature, ultimately getting to know Jesus better.
First, Paul prays that God will give them a:
Spirit of wisdom
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Paul prays that we might have a Spirit of wisdom.
Wisdom makes us think of Solomon, who when he became King God spoke to him and told him he would give him whatever he wanted. Solomon, in one of his most brilliant moments asked for wisdom. 2 Chronicles 1:10
Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
With wisdom, Solomon was able to make wise and “smart” decisions. We all remember the first example of his wisdom when two women came to Solomon, both claiming to be the mother of a baby. After hearing their arguments Solomon says cut the baby in half....
Solomon showed us that wisdom led to him making decisions that were right and fair.
Wisdom is not just knowledge or learning. You can be incredibly smart or intelligent and yet not be wise.
Wisdom carries with it the idea of using your knowledge to help make right decisions.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary says this about wisdom:
Biblical wisdom refers to practical skills associated with understanding and living a successful life.
Wisdom is not something to be scared of. It is something we each should be asking for.
Wisdom is taking the words and teachings of Jesus and putting them into practice in our everyday lives.
When we do that then wisdom affects our daily lives. It affects our relationship with others and it affects our relationship with God.
The book of proverbs speaks of wisdom and ultimately says that wisdom is shown by our speech:
The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.
The lips of the wise spread knowledge,
but the hearts of fools are not upright.
Finally, James says this in chapter 3 of his book, One of my favorite books....
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
James says that wisdom and understanding lead to deeds done in humility.
James ties wisdom into action.
So when Paul prays for humility for the Ephesian Christians, he knows that it will lead them to lives lived honoring and obeying God.
Paul finishes his prayer for wisdom by saying that it will lead you to :
“know Him better”
The final piece of wisdom is that it helps us know God better. Isn’t that what we all want? Don’t we all want to know Him better?
Even Paul expressed this idea.
Paul who i would classify as one of the greatest Christians of all time.
Paul, who was chosen by God on the road to Damascus.
Paul, who was hand picked to be an apostle of Jesus.
Paul said this about wisdom and knowledge:
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Wisdom, and the knowledge and good decisions that come from it, ultimately help us to know and understand God and Jesus better.
Second, Paul prays that the Ephesians will:
Be given a Spirit of wisdom
Have their eyes enlightened
You may be thinking, is Paul the owner of an eye salon?
Do you need to get some work done on your eyes?
Maybe you’ve got those dark lines under your eyes and need some work done?
No, Paul is not talking about gaining a clearer vision about Jesus.
I’m just like a lot of you who battle vision issues. I always had great sight, or so I thought, I never had problems and figured I would be the guy in our family who never needed glasses. And then i turned 40 years old and one day Amy caught me holding a book a little farther away from my face. I remember it clearly, i was holding a paperback at arms length and she said - “what are you doing?” and in my wisest most brilliant reply said “Reading!” and then she pointed out to me that i was holding the book down here. At that moment it dawned on me that my eyesight was beginning to fail, and i was heading down the path of so many before me who would need glasses to see better.
Now i wear contact lenses most of the time. Mornings for me can sometimes be difficult.
..... Explain and exaggerate putting in your contact lenses ........
But once you get them in. Wow - my vision is enlightened!
Paul prays that the spiritual vision of the Ephesian believers will be “enlightened”
Look at how Paul says this to the Ephesian Christians in chapter 1
Ephesians 1:18–19 (NIV)
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Paul wants them to have better spiritual vision.
Paul knows that knowledge and wisdom that comes from God leads to improved and enlightened spiritual vision.
It’s like laser surgery, where from this point on you can see without glasses.
Paul says that enlightenment brings 3 things:
You realize the hope to which you were called
You realize the glorious inheritance you have
You realize the great power God gives to us
First, we have a great hope that comes from God.
Hope of a future. Hope of a new life. Hope that comes from forgiveness.
and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
The hope that we have does not disappoint.
Have you ever been hoping and waiting for something for a long time , only to be disappointed?
Some of you know my favorite sister-in-law Theresa. She told me the story of a Christmas when she was hoping to get a camera for her Christmas gift. She was hoping and hoping, so when Christmas morning came, the family said “Theresa we want you to open your gift first.” She knew it must be a camera because then she could take pictures of their day. But much to her surprise when she opened the present it was a cassette tape recorder. Yes she recorded the family Christmas, but she was disappointed.
We have an incredible inheritance awaiting us. One that will not disappoint us!
Paul wants us to realize what a great hope we have as brothers and sisters in Christ. A hope that won’t disappoint.
What is awaiting for us is far greater than anything we can hope for.
As part of God’s adopted family we are now his heirs. We have an inheritance with Him and that inheritance is life with him together as he intended.
We will be in God’s presence. With all we need.
John clearly portrays the scene of heaven where we will be in a city far greater than we can imagine.
But don’t forget Paul in writing to the Ephesians ties all this into power.
Hope of a life to come, a glorious inheritance, all speak to the power we have right now because of our faith.
We may be surrounded by a culture and world that sees us as weak and timid, following a God they can’t believe exists, but Paul reminds us that we live with Power!
Paul wants to encourage the Ephesians Christians to keep on living for God. That they have great things with him and are tapping into great power.
That power comes from the Holy Spirit.
God’s Holy Spirit given to us at our baptism, is what provides us with that hope and power that is promised.
When we’re alone - the Holy Spirit is with us to comfort and guide us.
When we’re struggling with a decision - the Holy Spirit helps us have the wisdom and knowledge to make that decision.
Jesus may have returned to the Father, but he left us each the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit.
Paul, in writing this letter wants us to know that with that guidance comes great hope, comfort , wisdom and power.
Folks we are not alone in this world.
We have each other. We are a family that together can do great things.
Covid has tried to drive us apart. We’ve been separated by our beliefs and our fears.
It has tried to keep us from doing what God wants us to do.
We’ve been told we shouldn’t gather together. We’ve been told to keep to ourselves. We’ve been told to cower in the corner in fear.
But while we cower in fear, the world is missing out on knowing and finding Jesus Christ.
I challenge you to move forward in faith. Faith overcomes fear. Faith, and the power and hope we have in him, gives us the strength to step out and share our faith.
It gives us the power to move our feet and step forward as God would want.
That faith, that hope, that power we have in him will help propel us forward to do his work.