[0:00] again we're going to continue our worship we're going to read first of all from the new testament scriptures and from paul's epistle to the philippians and chapter three paul's epistle to the philippians chapter three philippians chapter three finally my brethren rejoice in the lord rejoice in the lord to write the same thing to you me indeed is not grievous but for you to save beware of dogs beware of evil workers beware of the concession for we are the circumcision which worship god in the spirit and rejoice in christ jesus and have no confidence in the flesh though i might also have confidence in the flesh if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh i more circumcised the eighth day of the stock of israel of the tribe of benjamin a hebrew of the hebrews as touching the law of harrisy concerning zeal persecuting the church touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless but what things were gained to me those i counted loss for christ ye doubtless and i count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of christ jesus my lord for whom i have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but down that i make one christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of christ the righteousness which is of god by faith that i may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death if by any means i might attain unto the resurrection of the dead not as though i had already attained either were already perfect but i follow after if that i may apprehend that for which also i am apprehended of christ jesus brethren i count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing i do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before i press toward the mark for the price of the high calling of god in christ jesus let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded and if any if in anything he be otherwise minded god shall reveal even this unto you nevertheless where to we have already attained let us walk by the same rule let us mind the same thing brethren be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as he have us for an ensample for many walk of whom i have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of christ whose end is destruction whose god is their belly and whose glory is in their shame who mind earthly things for our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the saviour the lord jesus christ
[4:04] who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself amen and may the lord add his blessing to a reading of his word and to his name be the praise go to hear some now psalm 16 psalm 16 psalm 16 in gaelic we'll read at verse 5 first of all in english goddess of mine inheritance and cup the portion the lot that fallen is to me thou dost maintain alone unto me happily the lines in pleasant places fell here the inheritance i got in beauty dearth excel go i am doth love gee
[5:32] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS
[6:34] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS Thank you.
[7:54] Thank you.
[8:24] Thank you.
[8:54] Thank you.
[9:24] Thank you. We can turn now for a short while to Paul's epistle to the Ephesians and chapter 1. We can read at verse 15.
[9:36] Ephesians chapter 1 at verse 15. And so on.
[10:08] Continuing our consideration of this first chapter and this is our penultimate study.
[10:50] We hope to conclude it, God willing, next Thursday evening. We have already noticed how Paul the Apostle has laid stress on the sovereignty of God in salvation.
[11:10] And at the same time the Apostle has laid equal stress on the responsibility of the Christian to respond to the call of God in the Gospel.
[11:31] And suppose that in a sense gives an explanation why Paul prays the way he does.
[11:45] If there wasn't an equal emphasis, then the necessity for praying to God, for God to answer the prayer in the manner in which God alone can answer it, would not make a lot of sense.
[12:07] Because what he does.
[12:37] Another request which then moves on to the specifics. That the eyes of the eyes of the eyes of the eyes of the understanding being enlightened.
[12:48] That enlightenment must then be followed by these three things that he specifically identifies.
[12:59] The eyes of the eyes of the eyes of the eyes of the Ahhh that you may know what is the hope of our calling.
[13:14] What is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe according to the working of his mighty power?
[13:34] So there's a general sort of umbrella phrase which directs his prayer towards God. And then the petitions are specific.
[13:51] What is the hope of their calling? What is the riches of the glory of their inheritance and the exceeding greatness of his power and so on?
[14:05] Now Paul, I suppose like anyone, understands that if we don't have eyes we can't see.
[14:44] That the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.
[14:55] But in most of the other translations the word that is used is the eyes of your heart.
[15:06] And that itself is probably the authorised version translation is more interpretive in a sense.
[15:19] But the word in the original Greek is the word heart. But for us when we come across the word heart used we normally think about our affections.
[15:36] Our emotions. That is where we look for the heart to be in operation. Whereas with regard to understanding we usually think of our head rather than our heart.
[15:53] Now Paul is here using it in a sense that the Greek word and the Hebrew word is used. And in both of these cultures the word heart refers to the locus of knowledge and thought processes and understanding.
[16:18] That's where these things are identified as being found. If a person understands he understands with his heart. If he acquires knowledge he acquires knowledge in his heart.
[16:31] So his prayer is that these areas that he identifies he wants them to be able to see better with spiritual eyes.
[16:48] That's what his presentation is all about. As Christians he wants them to be able to see with the eyes of their understanding, with the eyes of their intellect, their knowledge and their thoughts.
[17:11] So that these things active as they are they will be able to see the things that he identifies that they need to see.
[17:23] And they need to be able to see to appreciate what God is doing in their life as Christian believers. If you are a Christian and most of you would profess to be Christians.
[17:43] If you have ever conversed with somebody who is not a believer. And you begin to converse with them on spiritual matter and spiritual content.
[18:01] It won't take you long to realize that somewhere along the line they can't follow what you are talking about. Because much of the Christian experience is a strange land to those who are not Christians.
[18:18] No matter how well versed they are in the things of God. I was listening to the Gallic service on Sunday evening.
[18:30] And it was partly an interview with the late Douglas Macmillan. And those who were his congregation.
[18:42] And two of those people that spoke of their experience of being into the ministry of Douglas Macmillan.
[18:55] I knew both of them. I knew both of them. And I knew both of them to have come. And they admitted us much. To have come from Christian homes. To have been raised within the surroundings where the Bible was familiar to them.
[19:12] And so on. And they were recognized as young people. When they were introduced to the Gospel by the Spirit of God.
[19:26] That all the knowledge that they had was very much shallow. And whatever we accumulate in our youth under the Gospel or under the truth of the rich of Christian parents or Christian influences over and above that.
[19:51] If we ourselves are not born again or converted. A lot of what we hear, we might make sense of it in our own way. But we lose our feet very quickly in what they have to say.
[20:08] Now what Paul is talking about here, what he is praying for, is a spiritual myopia that must be dealt with.
[20:27] And only the Spirit can deal with it. One who is not on the same wavelength as you, is not able to see.
[20:38] What you are unable to see when God opens your eyes. I'm sure you know that. You understand that.
[20:49] But don't ever overlook it when you are trying to speak to people at a level at which you understand that.
[21:00] You are talking to someone who needs to be led gently into areas that are strange to them. I was reminded even as I was looking at this of my time in the hostel.
[21:14] Two boys that were in the school with me. And a conversation that we had. And they were from slightly different backgrounds to myself.
[21:27] They had exposure to Christians coming to their home regularly at communion times. And their parents were professing members. And their level of understanding of these things was greater than my own.
[21:44] I was very ignorant of some of the things that they understood. But if I were to talk to them today, I believe that I am not on the same level as them.
[21:59] Not because of the passage of time, but because a change has been wrought in my life by the Holy Spirit. They have remained where they are, or where, as far as I am aware anyway.
[22:12] They are still blindly ignorant of many of the truths of God. And Paul says quite clearly in his epistle to the Corinthians, The natural man cannot receive the things of God, the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to them.
[22:37] And neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. And you know this yourself, and you understand this yourself. And at the same time, when you know that Paul is praying here, and you have to remind yourself of that.
[22:53] He is praying for an increase in the knowledge that they have of God. More of the same, a deeper understanding of what they already know.
[23:09] And we cannot imagine that we will ever arrive at a point where it is possible for us to fully understand all that we can understand, or fully appreciate all that we can appreciate as Christians.
[23:29] The knowledge that they have of God, even though it can be a considerable body of knowledge, it is never sufficient to satisfy the need that we have as Christians to increase that knowledge.
[23:51] Listen to what the author Don Carson says. There is nothing more important in God's universe, both in time and in eternity, than knowing God better.
[24:09] Knowing God better. Now that means that wherever you are today, whatever knowledge that you have accumulated, it is possible for you to accumulate still more.
[24:22] And it is the Spirit that reveals, so we must have our spiritual faculties, he says, attuned to receive what God reveals by his Spirit.
[24:35] But what Paul prays for both shows that he understands that it is ultimately God alone who both reveals and enables us to grasp what he reveals.
[24:47] There are two sides to it. There are two sides to it. Not only can God and does God reveal, he equips those to whom the revelation is coming.
[25:02] And enables us to understand better what we may not have understood up until that point. It was said of somebody long ago who attempted to follow the practices of people who knew to be Christians.
[25:21] And it was encouraged to many, and it probably is a good thing to encourage them, everybody to pray to God and to be ready to read the Scripture and to do business with God.
[25:36] And this person was following the example that had been set before him. And he had learnt a prayer. And he came to God with a prayer and absolutely nothing at all with the prayer that he came with.
[25:49] And he prayed the prayer of David. David's words were put in his mouth. And he was wanting God to deal with him as a sinner and to create in him a new heart, a clean heart.
[26:09] That was his prayer. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that prayer and every one of us should have it. But as he prayed that prayer, all of a sudden he realised that that prayer was not his own.
[26:26] He realised that the moment that he prayed that prayer, that even if God were to give him a new heart, what would that make him, what would that do for him?
[26:40] And it suddenly opened his eyes to the need that he had, not just to have a new heart, but to know to go to Christ. And as these thoughts opened out to him, he was able in that moment to see Christ on the cross.
[26:59] And as he saw Christ on the cross, he realised that that was where his need was to be met, not just in having a new heart.
[27:10] Now that didn't come from himself. That wasn't something that arose out of his reading the scripture alone or whatever.
[27:21] What was central to it was the involvement of the Holy Spirit. And that is what Paul is praying for here. He is praying that the Holy God of Heaven would send his Spirit and open the eyes of our understanding.
[27:39] That opened the eyes of our heart. So that we see whatever it is that we need to see at that moment in time, whatever the occasion may be.
[27:58] We have to understand that God is not somebody who works at the very outset of Christian experience, but someone who goes on working in us.
[28:12] And wherever we are this evening, in our walk with God, we are still totally dependent upon him to give us insights into his truth, to make the truth manageable to us, to make the truth speak to us.
[28:28] And let the eyes of our understanding be open. Well there are three things, as I said, he prays for here. And the first thing is that they are all three words, I suppose.
[28:41] Three words that he asked for. What is the hope of their calling? What is the hope of their calling?
[28:55] Well, can we as individuals identify what that hope is as far as we are concerned?
[29:09] The hope of which he speaks is not a vital hope if their calling is not at the very outset of their experience.
[29:25] Read these words again. Read these words again. Read these words again. That the eyes of your understanding be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling.
[29:38] So prior to there being the experience of hope, the hope of the gospel, there is the experience of calling. And I think what the calling that he speaks of here, he has already alluded to it, he has already spoken of it.
[29:58] He has identified it as something that is in their experience, as those who have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their own saviour.
[30:11] And the day Montgomery voice makes the following observation. God, he says, has called us to something and for something.
[30:23] Sometimes we may have a very narrow focus that all that our calling, which is an effectual calling as far as the salvation of our soul is concerned, that all that is necessary is involved in the first experience of coming to faith.
[30:45] But he has called us from our sin to himself. He has called us from death to life. He has called us into a relationship with Christ.
[30:56] But it doesn't stop there. It is something that goes on. He has chosen us, as Boyce says, as those who are to be holy and blameless in his sight, to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, to be for the praise of his glory.
[31:20] And that calling is part of our hope, along with our hope of being taken into heaven, seeing God and being like the Lord and with him for all eternity.
[31:37] So there is a beginning to it, but there is a continuation of it. And there is a destination that is necessary to that. Paul's prayer is for us to understand what it is not only to be saved, but to grasp what they have been saved to.
[31:58] So that you are able to look forward with anticipation to the experience of the saved. To the experience of those who have gone through the wilderness.
[32:14] And at the end of your wilderness journey, that you know what awaits you. There are plenty of us who are in the world and who encounter grief in the world.
[32:26] And at that moment we want from this grief and our hope becomes something that we strive to grasp. We want it there and then. We want it there and then. We are happy to be rid of this world and to be away from it.
[32:41] When the grief is strong and when the sorrows are overwhelming us. But for the believer, this hope is something that should be there constantly.
[32:55] Not just when their grief is struck. We need to understand that the prayer that he has again is a prayer that is for the continuation of the experience of the believer.
[33:14] Where enlightenment comes as to what their hope genuinely contains. Quote Don Carson again. This hope, he says, is nothing less than life in the new heaven and the new earth.
[33:33] Life in the presence of God. Life in the presence of God. It is the hope of sharing in God's glory. The hope of appearing with Christ in glory at the end. It is the anticipation of being presented to Christ without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish.
[33:53] Now, that is the hope of the believer. And it should be a constant companion to us in our journey through this world.
[34:06] It is not something that we can put aside and hang it on the mantelpiece or whatever for a rough time.
[34:17] It is something that we can possess and that can be an encouragement to us at all times. That is what he is paying for.
[34:28] That is what he wants us to have. That with God's help, we will be confident in the truth that is asserted. That is that the believer's hope is a sure hope.
[34:40] And that the believer's hope is something that sustains them and upholds them on the journey through this world.
[34:51] The second thing that we have here is, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints?
[35:05] And we know that the children of Israel were presented with an inheritance, but it was contained within the promise.
[35:19] The psalm that we have here is a psalm that we have here. The psalm that we have heard sung, Psalm 16, we are familiar with these words. And the psalm is there as a firm grasp of what lies before him.
[35:32] Purely by reading the words there, there is no clarity that we have concerning the words.
[35:47] Because there is a conflict in the mind of some theologians as to whose inheritance is being spoken of by the apostles. Some think that the inheritance, God's people are God's inheritance.
[36:02] Some people think that it's God's people that are looking forward to the inheritance that God has prepared for them. I think Martin Lloyd-Jones says, we can't say on the basis of the words solely that it is clear and an ambiguous statement.
[36:25] We know that Israel were promised an inheritance in a land flowing with milk and honey. An inheritance that is imperishable and that is undefiled and that will never fade.
[36:40] It is a promise that God is bound up with.
[36:51] That he will not fail his people to who he has given that promise. And although we can understand why some would look at it and say God's people are his possession in that respect.
[37:09] And as if he is going to inherit that people. Well, I think Martin Lloyd-Jones amongst others says, well it sounds a bit strange saying that God is going to inherit something that already belongs to him anyway.
[37:22] Some are convinced that the point Paul is making is to bring that home to us. But while it may be a possible interpretation, it's unlikely.
[37:34] If what he is doing is trying to convince us or encourage us to believe that this is what is true.
[37:45] That the riches of God's glory are there laid up in store for us.
[37:58] And to come into possession of them is the ultimate aim of the Gospel being preached. So that those who are beneficiaries of the blessings of God in the Gospel will be assured that riches without measure await them.
[38:18] And they are all bound up in the glory of God. Not in material wealth, but in the spiritual glory that God himself is identified with. The final thing we have is this in the words of verse 19.
[38:35] What is the exceeding greatness of his power to us, Lord, who believe according to the working of his mighty power? Again, I think this threefold cord, they are very tightly bound together.
[38:52] They must be reminded of the power of God being at their disposal. The people of God for whom this prayer is being offered.
[39:04] They must be pointed in the direction of the source of all power. And that they have access to it and that it is theirs of right. However, while that is the truth that is said before us, I would agree with the likes of C.H. Spurgeon.
[39:24] I think this is a Christian who reminds us on many occasions that the believer has to remember that the word of God teaches us that the believer becomes a believer when God comes in power to take them to himself.
[39:53] The bringing of a soul to salvation is no task for anyone but God alone.
[40:09] If it was possible for anyone of us to save a lost soul, then we would. There wouldn't be a family member, there wouldn't be an acquaintance, there wouldn't be anyone that we have encountered in this world if we understood them to be lost.
[40:30] We would. We would. We would. We would. We would. But we would. But we know for ourselves that salvation came our way by reason of God's power in the Gospel through Christ Jesus.
[40:47] Nothing less than that would have quickened us, would have awakened us, would have stirred us out of the grave of nature, as it were.
[41:00] But we cannot forget that it is quite equally so that the same power is in operation to maintain us in the path of life.
[41:13] The power of God through faith unto the salvation of our souls, ready to be revealed at the last time, is what Paul says.
[41:24] The passage before us sets out the power of God to save and bring that salvation to fruition. Put the question to yourself.
[41:36] It's not a difficult question to ask. It's not complicated. Maybe the answer is difficult for you. Do you think God required to do more to take you from death to life than he does to maintain you as a living soul following after him?
[42:01] Do you think that it was harder to take you from a path of a life of ignorance and darkness than it is to maintain you as a Christian, sustain you as a Christian, enable you to go on as a Christian and persevere to the end?
[42:24] Maybe it's not a question to you. Maybe you know the answer. Maybe you have an answer for yourself. Maybe you have an answer for yourself. I think it's a... There was a lot of ignorance on my part anyway, about the kind of person that I was.
[42:43] And maybe I thought it wasn't really all that difficult a task for God to bring me to be a Christian at the outset. But perhaps I know myself better now than I did then.
[42:58] And I think it's more of a wonder that we would go on as Christians.
[43:09] And that's the power of which he speaks here. What is the exceeding greatness of his power to us, Lord, who believe, according to the working of his mighty power?
[43:21] It is not something... It's as if he's using words there that are not superfluous. They are words that are used in order to remind us of the power that is in operation.
[43:37] I'll finish with another quotation, this time from John Stott. Man, he says, is mortal. He cannot avoid death.
[43:48] You all know that. The mortality of man is before us. And there is not one of us who will avoid an encounter with the grave.
[43:59] Man is fallen, he says. He cannot overcome evil. We know the desperate wickedness that Jeremiah described is a suitable description of all of us.
[44:15] Because of sin. But as Stott says, God in Christ has gained the victory over death and the grave.
[44:26] He has conquered both. He has conquered sin and he has conquered death. And that is why Paul is able to speak of his power that is unlike any other that we know of here in this world.
[44:43] Well, we pray that God would encourage us to think of these words. And we will, God willing, conclude our study of these words next Thursday evening, if we're spared.
[44:57] Let us join in prayer. O Lord our God, we give thanks that you are a God who understands the need that we have here in this world.
[45:12] That you have a perfect knowledge of each one of us. And that you have sent your servants to bring your word to bear upon the lives of those who are in the world as your people.
[45:28] And we understand the need that there is to have a greater measure of appreciation of the power of God.
[45:39] You are the Almighty. And your Aaron is all powerful. And you have extended it. So embrace to your very boosome sinners in order that they would experience salvation and that they would need not look anywhere else.
[46:00] We pray that you would remember your people the world over. Remember those that we know of them that have a need for being reassured of the relationship that they enjoy with you.
[46:13] And we pray that you would have brought them to yourself, having brought them to yourself that you are not to let loose your grip of them, no matter what. Encourage us to look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
[46:26] We pray your blessing on your word. May it go out with power. May you bring to yourself those who are still in the darkness of ignorance, that their eyes would be opened, the understanding enlightened, and that they may see the beauty of Christ.
[46:45] We ask your blessing upon your word wherever it is spoken, be it in private or in public, be it in the pulpit or in the streets of our land.
[46:57] Be merciful to us, we pray. Bind the wounds of the afflicted. Heal the hurts of those who are wounded by their fellows. Go before us now, cleanse from sin, and now may grace, mercy and peace from God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you all now and always. Amen.