WEBVTT 00:00:00.460 --> 00:00:05.759 Folks, great to have you with us today, however you're watching this, whether you're live 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:09.820 with us in the building or you're tuning in online, it's just so wonderful to have you 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:10.820 with us. 00:00:11.140 --> 00:00:14.500 Come with me if you've got a Bible there to Ephesians chapter 1, the verses we've just 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:21.440 read, where Paul is praying for the believers in Ephesus. 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:24.320 And let me just tell you, as I've kind of hung out with him this week, let me tell you what 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:28.120 his prayer has reminded me of, right? 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:31.960 It's reminded me of something that happened when I was a teenager, right? 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:39.020 This craze that happened where everybody was buying a book, okay? 00:00:39.160 --> 00:00:39.980 Everyone's buying this book. 00:00:40.060 --> 00:00:44.820 And the book, and one of you remember this, okay, it was called The Magic Eye, okay? 00:00:44.939 --> 00:00:49.079 It was this magic eye book, maybe you're a generation, you might remember that. 00:00:49.120 --> 00:00:50.380 If not, Google's your friend, okay? 00:00:50.380 --> 00:00:51.179 You can do it afterwards. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:52.000 The Magic Eye. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:58.200 And The Magic Eye really was this book full of optical illusions, right? 00:00:58.259 --> 00:00:59.640 And everybody seemed to have one. 00:01:00.299 --> 00:01:05.900 And pictures, it was full of pictures that when you first looked at it, all you could see 00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:09.299 was kind of weird colours, lines and shapes. 00:01:09.859 --> 00:01:12.039 And you're looking at it thinking, what is this? 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:13.340 What is this? 00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:14.840 Mum, we paid how much for this? 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:16.340 Did you keep the receipt? 00:01:16.460 --> 00:01:17.340 She says, yes, we did. 00:01:17.400 --> 00:01:17.799 We're Scottish. 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:22.959 But we're looking at this thing thinking, this doesn't make any sense, this 2D image. 00:01:23.819 --> 00:01:27.939 And the trick was that if you looked at it long enough and hard enough, all of a sudden 00:01:27.939 --> 00:01:32.899 this 2D image would, in your mind, become 3D, right? 00:01:32.939 --> 00:01:35.560 This 3D world would open up in front of you. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:39.739 And all of a sudden you would see the kind of picture or the word that was right at the 00:01:39.739 --> 00:01:41.620 heart of it in this kind of 3D world. 00:01:43.239 --> 00:01:45.359 And you'd go, wow, I never saw that before. 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:46.539 How cool is that? 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:48.220 I see it now. 00:01:48.300 --> 00:01:50.140 It was 2D, but I see it in 3D now. 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:51.200 How awesome is this? 00:01:52.500 --> 00:01:55.900 And that's essentially what Paul's praying would be true of these Christian believers 00:01:55.900 --> 00:01:57.260 spiritually, right? 00:01:57.300 --> 00:02:01.160 If you want one line that maybe gets you to the heart of this prayer is, I pray that 00:02:01.160 --> 00:02:03.140 you'd see it, right? 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:04.380 I pray that you'd see it. 00:02:05.160 --> 00:02:06.140 Okay, think of it like this. 00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:12.780 He's presented them in the beginning of chapter one with this in Christ picture, right? 00:02:12.780 --> 00:02:15.860 Think of it, this in Christ picture. 00:02:16.039 --> 00:02:19.439 What God has done for the believer in Jesus Christ. 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:21.099 Remember what we saw last week? 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:22.199 We think back really quickly. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:25.020 The believer's been given a better identity. 00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:26.560 Okay? 00:02:26.699 --> 00:02:28.000 Chosen by God the Father. 00:02:28.939 --> 00:02:30.139 Redeemed by God the Son. 00:02:30.340 --> 00:02:31.599 Sealed with God the Spirit. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:33.060 Better identity. 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:33.900 It's true of you. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:34.420 Okay? 00:02:35.139 --> 00:02:37.639 Not because you've earned it, but because God has given it to you. 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:38.500 It's true of you. 00:02:38.579 --> 00:02:43.699 So important is it in our lives that we remember that God has said this is true of us because 00:02:43.699 --> 00:02:44.959 of our faith in Jesus Christ. 00:02:45.339 --> 00:02:49.239 Seems to me that the devil, friends, only has one trick, one line in his book, and it's 00:02:49.239 --> 00:02:52.039 the line that he played in Genesis 3, did God really say? 00:02:52.959 --> 00:02:53.359 Okay? 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:54.959 You and I trip up all the time. 00:02:55.819 --> 00:02:57.439 Did God really say that you were chosen? 00:02:57.639 --> 00:02:58.319 Yes, he did. 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.500 Did God really say you were redeemed by the blood of his Son? 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:02.339 Yes, he did. 00:03:03.339 --> 00:03:03.539 Okay? 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:04.679 That we know who we are. 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:08.060 We've been given a better identity. 00:03:08.340 --> 00:03:10.540 And we're now part of a bigger story. 00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:11.080 Do you remember that? 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:11.719 Verse 10. 00:03:12.200 --> 00:03:17.840 God's plan, his purpose since the beginning of time to unite all things in heaven and on 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:20.500 earth in Christ Jesus. 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:21.439 Okay? 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:23.360 We're part of this bigger story. 00:03:23.760 --> 00:03:24.719 Those things true. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:26.760 Better identity, bigger story. 00:03:26.860 --> 00:03:29.800 True because we are united with Jesus Christ. 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:33.420 And in light of that, Paul is saying, I'm praying that you'd see it. 00:03:33.419 --> 00:03:33.459 Okay? 00:03:34.059 --> 00:03:35.619 I'm praying that you'd see it. 00:03:36.379 --> 00:03:38.079 So come with me to verse 15. 00:03:38.139 --> 00:03:39.539 Let's get into these verses together. 00:03:41.359 --> 00:03:43.879 Do you know what I love about Paul here, straight off the bat in his prayer? 00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:44.679 Okay? 00:03:44.859 --> 00:03:49.959 I love how he celebrates what God is doing among them. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:50.719 You see it? 00:03:50.859 --> 00:03:54.799 And I thought to myself this week, how long did that be true in my life? 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:55.339 Okay? 00:03:55.339 --> 00:04:00.199 The fruit of God's spirit at work, that you celebrate how he is at work in the lives of 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:00.659 other people. 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:03.179 Do you see how he's heard about them? 00:04:03.180 --> 00:04:03.700 Do you see it? 00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:05.939 He's heard about their faith. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:09.360 He's heard about their love for Jesus. 00:04:09.540 --> 00:04:13.240 Some of these folks he might remember from his time in Ephesus, but I'm sure there's 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:16.019 lots more people in the equation now in this church who he doesn't know. 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:17.220 He celebrates them. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:20.800 And he's heard about their love for God's people. 00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:21.620 See that? 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:23.240 Their faith and their love. 00:04:23.939 --> 00:04:28.460 And in his mind, these are telltale signs that somebody has become a Christian. 00:04:29.419 --> 00:04:29.539 Right? 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:31.459 Faith, hope, and love. 00:04:31.739 --> 00:04:32.500 This is his triad. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:33.399 We'll come on to hope in a minute. 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:34.339 Faith, hope, and love. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:35.779 It's in your heart. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:36.680 This is what you do. 00:04:37.339 --> 00:04:40.479 Now let me just ask you, we have application here. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:46.439 When was the last time you celebrated the grace of God at work in someone's life? 00:04:48.339 --> 00:04:48.959 Think about it. 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:50.099 When was the last time you did that? 00:04:50.100 --> 00:04:55.640 Particularly when it comes to people who we have heard about yet never met. 00:04:56.840 --> 00:05:00.100 As you hear how God is at work. 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:01.720 Tell you how this worked out for me this week. 00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:03.080 Over the last couple of weeks rather. 00:05:03.960 --> 00:05:09.600 I was reading on Twitter about a pastor and a church called City Bible Church. 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:10.260 Right? 00:05:10.340 --> 00:05:11.300 Do you know where they are based? 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:12.960 In the heart of Beirut. 00:05:14.400 --> 00:05:17.280 They started as a Bible study in a living room for 10 months. 00:05:17.379 --> 00:05:18.939 They studied Ephesians together. 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:20.639 They outgrew their living room. 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:24.560 And now they're a thriving church in that city center. 00:05:25.180 --> 00:05:25.300 Right? 00:05:25.579 --> 00:05:26.620 Doing just what we're doing. 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:27.800 Meeting on Zoom to pray. 00:05:28.300 --> 00:05:28.480 Right? 00:05:28.819 --> 00:05:30.120 Trying to do stuff online. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:32.120 Trying to be involved in one another's lives. 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:34.420 Trying to love the people around about them. 00:05:34.540 --> 00:05:38.300 Who, given the heartbreaking things that have happened in that city in recent months. 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:41.259 Trying to love their neighbor well. 00:05:42.420 --> 00:05:44.040 Show Christ's love to people. 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:44.459 Do you know what? 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:47.620 Ever since I heard about them, I have never stopped giving thanks for them. 00:05:48.939 --> 00:05:50.139 A heart of Beirut. 00:05:50.860 --> 00:05:51.660 Praying for them. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:52.399 Praying for you. 00:05:53.500 --> 00:06:00.660 Do you know what I've found is, as I've thought about how can I best pray for the people in my spiritual family, my church family. 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:04.259 I found this letter, sorry, this passage rather, so instructive. 00:06:05.899 --> 00:06:08.819 I mean, isn't it interesting to consider what Paul doesn't pray for here? 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:09.980 He could have prayed for a ton of stuff. 00:06:10.060 --> 00:06:10.220 Right? 00:06:10.420 --> 00:06:13.019 He doesn't pray that it would go well for you. 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:14.699 He doesn't pray for provision. 00:06:14.699 --> 00:06:16.139 He doesn't pray for health. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:16.399 Right? 00:06:16.479 --> 00:06:18.000 Not wrong to pray for those things. 00:06:18.099 --> 00:06:18.620 Definitely not. 00:06:18.659 --> 00:06:23.899 Because we love one another, we will be concerned about the practical aspects of our life. 00:06:23.979 --> 00:06:28.500 But Paul's prayer here reminds us that we're playing in a much bigger game. 00:06:28.500 --> 00:06:31.500 Now what's he praying? 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:32.300 Verse 17. 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:33.040 Come with me. 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:48.480 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. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:50.420 See it? 00:06:50.420 --> 00:06:51.020 2D. 00:06:51.819 --> 00:06:52.180 2D. 00:06:52.520 --> 00:06:57.660 I'm praying that God, through the work of his Holy Spirit, won't blow your mind with this and you'd see it in 3D. 00:06:58.500 --> 00:07:01.160 What God has done for us in Christ, you'd see it more. 00:07:01.259 --> 00:07:03.520 You'd know Jesus better. 00:07:05.660 --> 00:07:07.500 And he puts flesh in the bones of that prayer. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:11.180 And this really is going to be our two points really quickly for this morning, if you're taking notes. 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:12.300 I don't know if you are, maybe mentally. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:14.000 He's praying for two things. 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:14.920 Okay, here's the first. 00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:19.580 He's praying that they'd know the hope that's theirs for the future. 00:07:20.699 --> 00:07:23.699 The hope that theirs is theirs for the future. 00:07:23.819 --> 00:07:34.220 Friends, if ever there was a time when the people in our world are desperately in need of hope, surely we're living at one of those times in our lifetimes. 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:35.640 Right? 00:07:35.700 --> 00:07:42.660 Let me just ask you, whoever you're watching this, whoever you are here today tuning in, where are you looking to for your hope? 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:45.200 Your hope. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:49.199 You remember that song by Gary Jules all those years ago? 00:07:49.579 --> 00:07:49.779 Right? 00:07:49.860 --> 00:07:50.839 Called Mad World. 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:51.759 Remember it? 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:52.339 Mad World. 00:07:52.479 --> 00:08:00.039 Every time I hear it, I'm always intrigued for no other reason than it's a fascinating observation about how many people in our world live their lives. 00:08:00.139 --> 00:08:00.300 Right? 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:00.920 It went like this. 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:03.280 All around me are familiar faces. 00:08:03.960 --> 00:08:04.960 Worn out places. 00:08:05.140 --> 00:08:06.020 Worn out faces. 00:08:06.180 --> 00:08:08.080 Bright and early for their daily races. 00:08:08.259 --> 00:08:09.060 Going nowhere. 00:08:09.640 --> 00:08:10.379 Going nowhere. 00:08:11.220 --> 00:08:13.240 Their tears are filling up their glasses. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:14.220 No expression. 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:15.580 No expression. 00:08:15.780 --> 00:08:16.560 Hide my head. 00:08:16.640 --> 00:08:18.080 I want to drown my sorrow. 00:08:18.340 --> 00:08:19.100 No tomorrow. 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:20.439 No tomorrow. 00:08:20.620 --> 00:08:21.160 Sound familiar? 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:30.560 I take it that because that song still gets airtime all the time, that it is. 00:08:31.520 --> 00:08:32.000 Right? 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:41.560 The cyclical and the often exhausting nature of life on the treadmill that for all of us will end in us facing the same grave. 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:54.279 You know, I remember going to a humanist funeral a number of years ago and the service began with a really heartfelt and lovely poem about the deceased and about nature and the beauty of the spiritual. 00:08:54.459 --> 00:08:57.359 And it ended up with us going out to the Bee Gees. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:58.139 Right? 00:08:58.179 --> 00:09:06.000 And I remember driving home with a friend with hearts breaking for the people that were there thinking that that was an occasion utterly bereft of hope. 00:09:08.819 --> 00:09:10.059 Friends, where is your hope? 00:09:10.059 --> 00:09:12.119 Where is your hope? 00:09:12.239 --> 00:09:13.059 Here is the Christians. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:13.939 Verse 18. 00:09:16.139 --> 00:09:22.839 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. 00:09:23.599 --> 00:09:29.259 The riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:30.500 So here's what we need to see. 00:09:30.579 --> 00:09:32.500 There are two sides to the hope coin. 00:09:33.239 --> 00:09:33.319 Right? 00:09:33.719 --> 00:09:34.759 Think about it like a coin. 00:09:34.839 --> 00:09:34.959 Right? 00:09:35.019 --> 00:09:36.239 Two sides to the hope coin. 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:39.979 First of all, one side it reads, we get God. 00:09:41.059 --> 00:09:41.539 Okay? 00:09:41.619 --> 00:09:42.479 We get God. 00:09:42.599 --> 00:09:44.619 He is our inheritance. 00:09:45.459 --> 00:09:45.739 Him. 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:46.559 We get Him. 00:09:47.639 --> 00:09:48.199 It's where it's going. 00:09:48.259 --> 00:09:48.879 It's where we're going. 00:09:48.979 --> 00:09:49.859 He is our inheritance. 00:09:49.979 --> 00:09:54.559 As you trace the Bible story through the Old Testament, this promise develops. 00:09:55.279 --> 00:09:57.500 Of God promising his people a land. 00:09:58.219 --> 00:09:58.359 Right? 00:09:58.399 --> 00:09:59.219 There's a place. 00:09:59.779 --> 00:10:00.379 It's where it's going. 00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:01.859 The story's going somewhere. 00:10:01.939 --> 00:10:03.079 God's leading them somewhere. 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:07.540 And it's not the land in and of itself that is the goal. 00:10:07.660 --> 00:10:09.360 It's what the land symbolizes. 00:10:09.580 --> 00:10:09.680 Okay? 00:10:09.820 --> 00:10:12.879 The riches that God will pour out on his people. 00:10:13.040 --> 00:10:13.220 Why? 00:10:13.340 --> 00:10:14.460 Because he is there. 00:10:15.220 --> 00:10:16.100 He is there. 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:17.680 Right? 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:21.259 Not kind of some estate agent that's sold them a place and gone somewhere else. 00:10:21.359 --> 00:10:21.939 He is there. 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:24.519 He is dwelling with his people. 00:10:24.659 --> 00:10:30.219 And it's why you get this constant refrain in the Psalms that the Lord is our portion. 00:10:30.439 --> 00:10:30.599 Right? 00:10:30.779 --> 00:10:32.000 It's Him that we get. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:43.200 And if he is good all the time, this three-in-one good God who is love, then that is an amazing thing to think that we will inherit at the end of the story. 00:10:44.659 --> 00:10:47.419 Of course, fast forward in the story, we get to the New Testament. 00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:50.159 We're looking towards the land of the new creation. 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:53.500 If you come tonight, you will be thinking about the heavenly city. 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:55.460 The heavenly city. 00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:56.700 Okay? 00:10:58.080 --> 00:10:58.519 Christ. 00:10:59.019 --> 00:10:59.600 That's where we're going. 00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:00.100 Christ. 00:11:00.220 --> 00:11:01.000 He is the goal. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:01.700 The goal. 00:11:01.860 --> 00:11:03.960 He is the treasure of the Christian life. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:05.919 We get God, says one side of the coin. 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:07.019 Flip it round. 00:11:07.659 --> 00:11:09.940 And the other side of the coin, and get your heads around this. 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:10.399 Okay? 00:11:10.700 --> 00:11:13.440 The other side says, God gets us. 00:11:14.820 --> 00:11:16.580 God gets us. 00:11:17.259 --> 00:11:18.320 Feel the language there. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:18.580 Right? 00:11:19.580 --> 00:11:21.200 We are his inheritance. 00:11:21.460 --> 00:11:21.779 What? 00:11:22.860 --> 00:11:23.299 Us? 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:25.039 Me? 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:25.440 You? 00:11:26.299 --> 00:11:27.419 All our failings? 00:11:27.779 --> 00:11:28.539 All our baggage? 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:29.919 All our mess? 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:30.360 Yes. 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:31.699 Yes, he gets us. 00:11:33.639 --> 00:11:36.620 You see, God is not in the business of reluctantly bringing us home. 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:37.059 Right? 00:11:37.199 --> 00:11:41.779 Like a parent tapping their watch saying to their teenager, what time did you get in last night? 00:11:41.819 --> 00:11:42.860 How did you get in here? 00:11:45.199 --> 00:11:49.179 See, friends, how much we are treasured by our heavenly father. 00:11:49.179 --> 00:11:51.539 Again, not something we've drummed up. 00:11:51.539 --> 00:11:53.859 Something he has said is true of us. 00:11:54.939 --> 00:11:55.139 Right? 00:11:55.500 --> 00:11:56.759 Bestowed with dignity. 00:11:58.979 --> 00:12:01.620 Given value and purpose in life. 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:09.759 We'll hear Jesus talking in the Gospels about how it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom. 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:13.860 See how much God loves his people. 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:16.419 He loves his people. 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:19.480 We saw that, didn't we, last week at the beginning of chapter one. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:21.279 In love he predestined us. 00:12:21.419 --> 00:12:21.539 Right? 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:26.120 Love is at the foundation of this. 00:12:26.319 --> 00:12:28.659 See how much God loves his people. 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:30.939 And Paul is saying, there is your hope, Christian. 00:12:31.059 --> 00:12:33.200 There is your hope for the future. 00:12:33.580 --> 00:12:35.200 And I'm praying that you'd see it. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:39.600 Let me ask you an honest question that I asked myself this week. 00:12:40.400 --> 00:12:41.940 How often do you think about the future? 00:12:43.780 --> 00:12:44.960 Okay, I'm not talking about like next week. 00:12:45.040 --> 00:12:47.560 I'm talking about the future you have as a Christian. 00:12:47.660 --> 00:12:48.100 The hope here. 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:49.360 How often do you think about it? 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:52.420 And let me take that question. 00:12:52.420 --> 00:12:57.660 Let me make it into an observation that I hope causes all of us to think here this morning. 00:12:58.200 --> 00:12:58.280 Okay? 00:12:59.300 --> 00:13:01.620 And here's the observation about the church. 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:07.259 Okay, I think about my grand generation of church. 00:13:07.460 --> 00:13:07.560 Right? 00:13:08.340 --> 00:13:13.840 Fair to say a godly, devoted generation of believers. 00:13:14.620 --> 00:13:24.360 But who were perhaps so fascinated with the future of the how, the when, and the where, 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:29.120 that perhaps they took their eyes off fully engaging in the present. 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:31.220 Okay? 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:33.879 Generalizing somewhat, but it might be a kernel of truth in there. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:36.600 But I tell you what is definitely true about my generation. 00:13:37.620 --> 00:13:37.759 Okay? 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:38.200 We're the others. 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:39.460 We're the other way around. 00:13:40.019 --> 00:13:40.220 Okay? 00:13:40.560 --> 00:13:48.000 Perhaps so fascinated with the present that I think we have failed to fully engage and think about the future. 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:56.759 And I think what Paul is saying here is that we need to see that the two are intrinsically linked. 00:13:57.659 --> 00:13:57.759 Right? 00:13:57.779 --> 00:14:03.220 How often we're like, and this was Martin Luther, he used to talk about the church being like a drunk man trying to get on a horse. 00:14:03.539 --> 00:14:03.720 Right? 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:07.840 Try and get on and you fall off one side and he tries to get back on and it falls off the other side. 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:09.820 How often we get the extremes wrong. 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:12.520 Paul is saying that the two are intrinsically linked. 00:14:12.940 --> 00:14:19.680 That the key to living faithfully in the present is thinking clearly about the future. 00:14:21.260 --> 00:14:26.020 So again, the key to living faithfully in the present is to think clearly about the future. 00:14:26.160 --> 00:14:28.220 Where this whole story is going. 00:14:28.300 --> 00:14:31.800 The hope that we have in Jesus Christ. 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:40.799 Friends, let me just say, if ever there was a time for us to be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, it is now. 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:43.179 Yeah? 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:44.120 You want proof of that? 00:14:44.199 --> 00:14:53.459 I heard in a church leaders call recently, Evangelical Alliance, that Nicky Gumbel, rector at Holy Trinity Brompton down in London, 00:14:53.460 --> 00:15:02.400 recently reported that apparently roughly 16,000 people in the UK have signed up and attended an online alpha course in the last few months. 00:15:04.500 --> 00:15:04.700 Okay? 00:15:04.740 --> 00:15:05.660 People are searching. 00:15:05.900 --> 00:15:10.840 There's a hunger there to, and a restlessness, I imagine, looking at a world and thinking, 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:14.180 what is the best at a time like this when all is taken away? 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:17.080 What is the best that our world has to offer? 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:18.840 And the answer is not very much. 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:22.620 But in Jesus Christ, we hold out the hope that we have for the future. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:24.860 And we say, this is so much better. 00:15:24.980 --> 00:15:27.960 He is so much better than anything that the world can offer us. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:34.060 Paul's praying that they'd know the hope that they have for the future. 00:15:34.060 --> 00:15:38.860 And secondly, he's praying that they'd know the power that is theirs in the present. 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:40.480 Okay? 00:15:40.540 --> 00:15:41.980 The power that's theirs in the present. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:43.060 What does Paul want them to know? 00:15:43.139 --> 00:15:44.060 Come with me to the text. 00:15:44.160 --> 00:15:44.780 Verse 19. 00:15:44.779 --> 00:15:50.519 Of the incomparably great power for us who believe. 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:52.879 Okay? 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:58.799 And just like hope is a two-sided coin, let me suggest that power is a two-sided coin as well. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:15:59.019 Right? 00:15:59.059 --> 00:16:03.759 On the one side, it reads God's incomparably great power. 00:16:05.100 --> 00:16:09.240 I remember growing up when we were young, every game we used to play in the school playground, 00:16:09.699 --> 00:16:11.839 the rule was winner stays on. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:12.319 Right? 00:16:12.379 --> 00:16:14.039 Just competitive bunch of boys. 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:15.240 Winner stays on. 00:16:15.319 --> 00:16:15.860 That was the rule. 00:16:15.980 --> 00:16:17.219 It doesn't matter whether it was cuppy. 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:18.179 Okay? 00:16:18.199 --> 00:16:19.679 Some of you played that football cuppy. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:24.339 Whether it was drafts, whether it was concurs, that was the rule that the winner stayed on. 00:16:25.219 --> 00:16:28.240 And you stayed on by making sure that nobody beat you. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:34.699 And if you were off, the whole aim in your mind was to topple the guy who was up there undefeated and knock him off. 00:16:35.980 --> 00:16:37.019 Winner stays on. 00:16:37.019 --> 00:16:47.460 What Paul is saying here, that when it comes to power, nobody is knocking God off of top spot. 00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:49.460 Okay? 00:16:49.460 --> 00:17:00.720 For the simple reason, verse 20, that there is no greater demonstration of power than the crucified and the risen Christ. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:18.299 God is, verse 21, who God has seated far above all rule and authority, and who has put all things, quoting Psalm 8, under his feet. 00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:23.000 And it's at his name that one day every knee will bow. 00:17:23.139 --> 00:17:35.379 And I take that whoever you are watching here today, whatever you think about this, God, let you hear me clearly say that at one day every knee who has ever existed, every person will bow at the feet of Jesus. 00:17:35.380 --> 00:17:40.040 It's his name that one day every knee will bow. 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:42.320 What a comfort for these believers in Ephesus. 00:17:42.320 --> 00:17:47.220 I take it this is why it's written, so that they could stand in the spiritual battle that they're in. 00:17:48.040 --> 00:17:48.120 Right? 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:52.080 What a comfort for these believers in Ephesus, surrounded by the power of the Roman Empire. 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:52.860 Right? 00:17:53.060 --> 00:17:57.320 Surrounded by the power of the occult and surrounded by the power of Artemis. 00:17:58.300 --> 00:18:04.320 What a comfort for them to know that there is no greater demonstration of power than the crucified and risen Jesus. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:06.500 No one is knocking him off the top spot. 00:18:08.220 --> 00:18:10.079 No one is knocking him off the top spot. 00:18:10.159 --> 00:18:11.879 There is no greater power than that. 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:24.279 And I take it that's the reason why people in places like North Korea and in the underground church in China, up against a regime that is trying to do everything to stamp out the name of Jesus, decide that Jesus is worth following. 00:18:25.559 --> 00:18:26.519 Right read this week. 00:18:27.299 --> 00:18:30.099 The country apparently with the fastest growing church. 00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:30.859 You know where it is? 00:18:32.019 --> 00:18:32.799 It's in Iran. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:34.839 Iran. 00:18:34.980 --> 00:18:37.379 Not a single church building in sight. 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:41.240 And yet people are flocking to Jesus. 00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:45.000 And I take it it's the same reason that connects all those things together. 00:18:45.139 --> 00:18:53.879 That God by his spirit has installed inside of people, deep inside of them, this growing conviction in their hearts and in their minds that this is who Jesus is. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:55.819 Right? 00:18:55.819 --> 00:19:04.139 Matthew 28 right at the end is true when Jesus pronounces that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 00:19:04.740 --> 00:19:04.859 Right? 00:19:04.899 --> 00:19:07.179 We do this every year as an elders team. 00:19:07.259 --> 00:19:08.339 We go away for a day. 00:19:09.179 --> 00:19:09.339 Right? 00:19:09.419 --> 00:19:13.159 Try and go down to the Leith or out to Pennycook or somewhere like that. 00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:14.759 We did it yesterday morning on Zoom. 00:19:15.399 --> 00:19:15.579 Okay? 00:19:16.099 --> 00:19:16.939 The times were in. 00:19:16.940 --> 00:19:20.440 But we had this guy leading us from down south. 00:19:20.539 --> 00:19:23.440 He came up and helped us think about the future. 00:19:24.120 --> 00:19:24.299 Okay? 00:19:24.660 --> 00:19:27.299 Thinking of celebrating the past of how God has been at work. 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:33.360 Celebrating now what God is doing amongst us even in these crazy times that we're living in. 00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:34.480 And thinking about the future. 00:19:34.580 --> 00:19:35.980 Where might God be leading us? 00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:36.700 Okay? 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:39.180 And just asking us, what are your aspirations? 00:19:39.180 --> 00:19:42.180 Talking about our aspirations. 00:19:42.360 --> 00:19:43.860 And these will come out I'm sure in the months to come. 00:19:43.940 --> 00:19:46.340 Talking about the things that we'd love to see the Lord do. 00:19:47.080 --> 00:19:52.000 The thing that connected every single one of them was to see more people come to know Jesus. 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:53.340 Okay? 00:19:54.039 --> 00:20:03.299 And the only reason we have confidence that that might happen and that will happen is because of this growing conviction of who Jesus is. 00:20:03.299 --> 00:20:07.379 That all authority in heaven and earth really has been given to him. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:12.659 That he rose and he reigns and he is accomplishing his purposes for the glory of his father. 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:18.220 His incomparably great power. 00:20:18.419 --> 00:20:19.859 This is who Jesus is. 00:20:19.919 --> 00:20:21.500 And I say that's an encouraging thing. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:21.919 Okay? 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:27.220 I think if it wasn't for the second half of that sentence that this would be a terrifying thing. 00:20:28.159 --> 00:20:28.399 Okay? 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:32.759 If it weren't for the fact of his incomparably great power. 00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:34.139 Two words. 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:35.319 For us. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:36.480 You see it? 00:20:36.539 --> 00:20:37.079 In the text. 00:20:37.379 --> 00:20:38.099 For us. 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:39.480 Who believe. 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:42.159 So the other side of the power coin. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:43.559 Incomparably great power. 00:20:43.659 --> 00:20:47.779 The other side of the coin is that the risen Jesus is for us. 00:20:48.899 --> 00:20:49.500 Guess what it reads? 00:20:49.579 --> 00:20:50.079 For us. 00:20:50.139 --> 00:20:51.659 One side incomparably great power. 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:52.879 Other side for us. 00:20:54.099 --> 00:20:56.379 You know I always think when we hear in our news. 00:20:56.379 --> 00:21:00.299 Don't we remember back in my law days always used to hear it from people. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:02.339 High profile court cases. 00:21:02.339 --> 00:21:04.759 What is it that people always come out and say they're going to get? 00:21:05.439 --> 00:21:07.319 The best legal team money can buy. 00:21:07.419 --> 00:21:08.019 That was the line. 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:08.279 Okay? 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:08.980 You heard that before. 00:21:09.059 --> 00:21:10.879 We're going to get the best legal team money can buy. 00:21:12.659 --> 00:21:15.240 Going to get the best in the business to come in and bat for us. 00:21:15.500 --> 00:21:15.639 Okay? 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:16.599 Represent us. 00:21:17.220 --> 00:21:17.339 Okay? 00:21:17.419 --> 00:21:23.439 I bet it was when Lionel Messi announced that he thought he could leave Barcelona for free a couple of weeks ago. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:25.899 That they got the best legal team money could buy. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:26.899 To come up and say. 00:21:27.019 --> 00:21:27.179 Yeah. 00:21:27.179 --> 00:21:27.919 I don't think so mate. 00:21:28.360 --> 00:21:28.519 Okay? 00:21:28.660 --> 00:21:30.640 Unless somebody can cough up 700 million. 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:31.820 You're not going anywhere. 00:21:33.320 --> 00:21:36.340 Best representation we can get. 00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:36.580 Friends. 00:21:36.620 --> 00:21:38.300 I want you to know that there's no one better. 00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:43.140 There's no better power to have on your side than the risen Christ who loves you. 00:21:45.019 --> 00:21:47.800 There's just no one better to have your team on your side. 00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:50.279 It doesn't mean life's going to turn out swimmingly in this life. 00:21:50.379 --> 00:21:51.359 But it does mean that. 00:21:51.940 --> 00:21:53.000 Think of the end of Romans 8. 00:21:53.099 --> 00:21:55.919 That nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 00:21:56.059 --> 00:21:59.059 There's simply no one better to have on our side. 00:21:59.460 --> 00:22:00.240 And not only that. 00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:01.139 Verse 22. 00:22:02.379 --> 00:22:03.180 Get this image. 00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:08.360 God the Father has given the reigning and ruling Jesus with all power. 00:22:08.460 --> 00:22:11.940 The supreme ruler over all things who declares everything is mine. 00:22:12.420 --> 00:22:14.700 The one who's beat the universe dances to. 00:22:14.820 --> 00:22:17.400 He has given him to whom the church. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:18.799 You see it? 00:22:19.620 --> 00:22:20.140 The church. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:22.560 In fact so caught up are our lives with his. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:27.560 That the church can be described here as being his very body. 00:22:27.820 --> 00:22:30.519 Back to this idea of reunion with Jesus Christ. 00:22:30.620 --> 00:22:30.940 Aren't we? 00:22:30.940 --> 00:22:31.720 His body. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:33.259 And we're going to see that play out. 00:22:33.340 --> 00:22:37.279 How that works out in the weeks to come as we travel through this letter. 00:22:37.420 --> 00:22:40.720 Let me just make one last observation and then we're almost done. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:40.980 Okay. 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:45.200 As we think about power and for us. 00:22:46.500 --> 00:22:48.140 And as we look out at a world. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:52.299 Seems to me that there are lots of people with power. 00:22:53.980 --> 00:22:59.799 But who have very little love and concern for the people who they are over. 00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:02.740 And flip it around. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:06.960 There's a lot of people in our world with a lot of concern and love for people. 00:23:07.100 --> 00:23:10.400 But who have no power to do anything about a situation. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:18.279 And yet how glorious is it that Jesus is both all power. 00:23:19.860 --> 00:23:21.640 And he's all love for his people. 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:25.620 Here's the Christ picture. 00:23:26.520 --> 00:23:27.580 I'm praying here. 00:23:27.660 --> 00:23:28.860 I'm praying that you'd see it. 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:30.160 Right. 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:31.940 That the eyes of your heart would be enlightened. 00:23:32.100 --> 00:23:33.240 I'm praying that you'd see it. 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:38.240 That this 2D picture of who Jesus Christ is and who you are in him. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:42.500 I'm praying that God through his spirit would take that and vump. 00:23:42.500 --> 00:23:44.759 That it would become 3D in your minds and in your hearts. 00:23:45.859 --> 00:23:48.279 That you'd know the hope that you have for the future. 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:53.079 And you'd know the power that's yours in the present. 00:23:53.220 --> 00:23:55.660 Friends, maybe one thing to do this week in practice. 00:23:57.339 --> 00:23:59.279 Just make this your prayer for the week. 00:23:59.779 --> 00:24:00.660 In your own life. 00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:04.660 Lord, help me to know Jesus better. 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:07.380 It's a kind of four-year-old prayer, isn't it? 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:07.579 Right. 00:24:08.379 --> 00:24:09.480 But it's a wonderful prayer. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:13.299 You'd help me to know Jesus better. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:16.919 And then take three people in this congregation, church family. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:20.639 Maybe scribble their names in your Bible this week or something like that. 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:22.500 And pray it would be true for them. 00:24:23.399 --> 00:24:26.359 That they, Lord Jesus, would know you better. 00:24:27.619 --> 00:24:30.779 You remember this really simple song by Graham Kendrick that we used to sing? 00:24:32.579 --> 00:24:35.399 Now my heart's desire is to know you more. 00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:39.360 To be found in you and known as yours. 00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:41.900 To possess by faith what I could not earn. 00:24:42.040 --> 00:24:44.460 That all-surpassing gift of righteousness. 00:24:44.680 --> 00:24:46.300 And in the chorus, let me finish with this. 00:24:46.840 --> 00:24:47.940 Knowing you, Jesus. 00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:52.140 Knowing you, there is no greater thing. 00:24:53.140 --> 00:24:54.380 You're my all. 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:56.040 You're the best. 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:57.100 You're my joy. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:24:58.720 My righteousness. 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:01.840 And I love you, Lord. 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:05.419 Friends, may that be our experience this week as we journey on with Jesus. 00:25:05.559 --> 00:25:06.059 Let me pray. 00:25:09.220 --> 00:25:12.199 Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this time together today. 00:25:13.939 --> 00:25:17.480 And Father, I do pray for whoever is tuning in here. 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:20.059 Maybe watching this online or whoever is here today. 00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:24.339 Father, that your spirit would be at work in each of our lives. 00:25:24.740 --> 00:25:27.559 Lord, bringing that understanding of who Jesus is. 00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:33.539 Lord, his incomparably great power for us. 00:25:33.919 --> 00:25:36.500 And the hope that we have in him for the future. 00:25:37.139 --> 00:25:40.099 Oh, Lord, thank you that you love us. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:43.519 Father, where would we be without your great love for us? 00:25:43.539 --> 00:25:45.099 And we commit ourselves to you, Lord. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:46.759 In Jesus' precious name. 00:25:47.159 --> 00:25:47.519 Amen. 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:47.639 Amen. 00:25:47.639 --> 00:25:47.679 Amen. 00:25:47.679 --> 00:25:47.700 Amen.