June 11, 2017
Morning Service

Last Sunday Paul revealed to us that the gift of the Holy Spirit was God’s guarantee that He will give us everything He has promised us and that we are His purchased possession.  We went on to explore and find out in the Book of Acts that we receive this Spirit sometime during our conversion experience.  It may be before baptism or after, but we need to rest assured that if we fully trust in Christ we will receive His Spirit as promised in Acts 2.  We then found out that the Spirit is our teacher, guide and prayer partner.  The Spirit is always with us fulfilling the promise that we will never be alone.  We need to learn to be aware of that presence in our life and trust it to never lead us astray.  This morning we will finish chapter 1 as we read of Paul’s desire for us all to know the depths of following Jesus.

 Ephesians 1:15-16  Therefore I also, hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love to all the saints,  (16)  do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,

·         Paul again encourages the church by mentioning the faith that they have and the love for all the saints that others have told him about.  Isn’t a word of encouragement wind in your sails?  We are all striving to be a closer follower of Jesus and it is sometimes a battle to keep the faith and love each other; so to be given an “attaboy” by Paul here had to be very uplifting.

·         How about you, do you go out of your way to encourage someone you see doing what God would have them to?  There is power in words of affirmation!  It is great to receive them, but also be one who gives them out.

·         Also notice how Paul says he “does not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.”  It would probably be safe to say we all feel we could do better in our prayer lives.  Work to make prayer a big part of your life.  Paul told the Thessalonian church to pray without ceasing.  Let your conversation with God begin first thing in the morning and end as you drift off to sleep.

·         Let’s look now at what Paul was praying for this church.

 

Ephesians 1:17-18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, (18) the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

·         It seems for me that our prayers are often asking God to be with, heal, protect or comfort someone.  Here Paul prays a little differently and asks that the church would be given a spirit of wisdom and revelation to truly understand and know the hope of His calling and the riches that lie within our inheritance.

·         Do you grasp, understand or know what the hope of His calling is?  I pray that God enlightens you as well.  On Sunday night we just finished reading Revelations 21.  In that chapter heaven is described to us in a very clear and vivid way.  This is just one description of the hope that we possess:

 

 Revelation 21:3-4 And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  (4)  And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying out, nor will there be any more pain; for the first things passed away.”

·         Do you understand what that means?  No more tears, death, mourning, crying or pain.  As we get older these are issues we deal with on a daily basis.  Every morning as we get out of bed something new hurts.  We all too often are losing that we love and that creates an empty hole in our lives.  We suffer with those around us who are suffering.  The hope we have is that one day all of these things will be gone.  We will never again cry from deep in our soul because we have lost a loved one.  Do you understand that hope now?  May every time you hurt from now on let it remind you that there is coming a day when you never will feel that pain again.

·         Accepting the call to follow Jesus can be tough and challenging, but the retirement plan is like no other!  Not only will all these things be removed from our lives, but our Savior will live among us and we will be His family and He will be our God!  He will wipe my tears away.  How is that for hope?

·         Does that make the trials of this life go away?  No, but it puts them into a whole different perspective doesn’t it?  Paul prayed that we would know that we know that Jesus has gone away to prepare a place for us and will return to take us there.  Is there any doubt in your mind that our God is able to do just what He says?  Paul continues with something else he wants us to know for sure that also should address any doubt we may be feeling.

 

Ephesians 1:19-23  and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us, the ones believing according to the working of His mighty strength  (20)  which He worked in Christ in raising Him from the dead, and He seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies,  (21)  far above all principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name being named, not only in this world, but also in the coming age.  (22)  And He has put all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, (23) which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

·         We need to know that there is no one to even compare with our God who raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him in a place of authority at His right hand.  He is “far above all principality, authority, power, and dominion” of this age or of any to come.  His name is above every name ever named.  He is in full control of everything and is also the Head of the church, which is His body.  That means us.

·         We are all to strive to be the full expression of Him on this earth.  Each of us doing our part to make the church (His body) to be fruitful and fulfill the Great Commission.  We are how God has chosen to express Himself to this world.  It is through the church that He loves, teaches, and makes disciples in this world.

·         Paul’s prayer is that we know the hope of His calling and the riches of our inheritance.  He also wants us to know how great and powerful our God is and that He is the Head of the church.  If we truly know these things, then it will come very natural for us to live a life that seeks His kingdom first and lets everything else fall into its proper place.

 

I pray this same prayer for you.  Do you know someone who needs you to pray this prayer for them?  Add this to your list that you pray for them.

 

Lord please open our understanding that we may know the hope of Your calling, the riches of our inheritance, and the power of Your greatness.