WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.700 We're continuing our series through Ephesians this morning, looking at what the church is. 00:00:05.700 --> 00:00:11.700 And so Julian is going to come and read for us from Ephesians 1 and then Corey will bring 00:00:11.700 --> 00:00:12.700 God's word. 00:00:12.700 --> 00:00:17.660 So Ephesians chapter 1, reading from verse 15, 00:00:17.660 --> 00:00:24.039 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward 00:00:24.039 --> 00:00:30.799 all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that 00:00:30.799 --> 00:00:37.579 the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom 00:00:37.579 --> 00:00:43.700 and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:48.739 that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of 00:00:48.740 --> 00:00:54.140 his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his 00:00:54.140 --> 00:01:00.460 power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked 00:01:00.460 --> 00:01:06.200 in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly 00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:13.920 places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:19.599 is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:26.500 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:33.260 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:37.420 We are in a series on Ephesians, working our way through the letter that Paul wrote to 00:01:37.420 --> 00:01:39.420 Ephesus. 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:43.480 As Louis mentioned, I had really asked the question, who is the church? 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:49.640 And so far we have learned that the church is a people, Christians, who are blessed 00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:56.640 by God from eternity past and who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus in the middle of history. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:03.359 And though sin has really fractured our lives, Jesus, by the Holy Spirit right now, is putting 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:08.800 the pieces back together, and ultimately one day he will put everything back together, 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.840 and that one day we will see him, we will see Jesus Christ. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:14.000 And so that's what we've learned so far. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:20.439 Paul now, for the rest of this letter, transitions to talk about life right now, your life, our 00:02:20.439 --> 00:02:22.719 lives in the present day. 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:24.560 And he begins that by praying. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:27.960 So what we've read, what Jillian just read for us, is a prayer. 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:36.280 And he really prays that every single one of us would have a vibrant, living spirituality 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:37.480 in our lives. 00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:43.399 So what he wants for us all right now as a church to have is a true spirituality. 00:02:43.399 --> 00:02:47.719 And he tells them, you know, I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus. 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:52.799 He had not met all the Ephesians, so he's hearing testimonies from Rome about them. 00:02:52.799 --> 00:02:56.159 And he says, you know, I've heard of your faith, and I've heard that you have a living, 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:59.479 vibrant love for Christ and for the people of God. 00:02:59.479 --> 00:03:02.759 And I really just pray that you would have more and more and more of that. 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:07.879 So he's really just saying that the prayer that he has for the church is that the church 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:12.599 would just grow and love Jesus and love one another more and more and more, better and 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:14.359 better and better. 00:03:14.359 --> 00:03:19.319 And that means that he's addressing something very real. 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:24.199 This prayer is getting at a problem that is very real for us. 00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:31.079 And it is the problem that you read the Bible and you read about what Christianity should 00:03:31.079 --> 00:03:32.079 look like. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:34.440 What it should look like when you meet Jesus. 00:03:34.440 --> 00:03:40.720 And you become a Christian and Jesus says, now go and love God with all of who you are. 00:03:40.720 --> 00:03:43.600 Now go and love your neighbor with all of who you are. 00:03:43.600 --> 00:03:46.520 Now have joy in the midst of hard circumstances. 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:48.560 Now pray without ceasing. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:53.920 And you look up at some point, perhaps, and you say, I'm not sure that I'm growing and 00:03:53.920 --> 00:03:59.160 growing and growing into that type of vibrant spirituality. 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:05.400 And maybe you can have at least somewhat of a story where you say, since I became a Christian, 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:10.199 there are times where I feel like my vibrancy and my zeal has gotten lesser and lesser, 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:11.199 not more and more. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:16.639 And so Paul's praying about something that's very real, that affects, that gets into all 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:18.480 of us if you're a follower of Jesus today. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:21.079 And he's talking about Christians. 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:26.720 And he's basically praying a prayer that tries to get underneath the problem that every human 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:32.520 being has, which is just that we all resort to our default factory setting. 00:04:32.520 --> 00:04:36.840 And our default factory setting is when the heart gets back to the place where you really 00:04:36.840 --> 00:04:42.800 believe, we really believe that our circumstances are the most important thing for defining 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:44.920 our happiness. 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:49.760 And that's the human default setting to say, circumstances are the most significant thing 00:04:49.760 --> 00:04:54.120 in my life to tell me whether or not I'm fulfilled or not fulfilled. 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:58.879 And Paul's trying to get underneath that and say, you've got a deeper need than that, 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:03.680 something much more important than your circumstances in your life to deal with and to pray about, 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:05.680 real happiness. 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:10.040 And one of the things you can say when you look at this is all the way back to Ephesians 00:05:10.040 --> 00:05:15.079 1, verse 1, Paul says, I'm writing this letter to all of you and I'm writing it as the apostle 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:21.800 of the Lord called by Jesus, set apart to speak as a mouthpiece of God with real authority. 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:27.759 And so if nothing else this morning, when you think about the great apostle Paul, who's 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:33.079 got the most books to his name in all of the Bible, the mouthpiece of God speaks with real 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:42.960 authority and he says, let me tell you, follower of Jesus, what I am praying for you to have. 00:05:42.960 --> 00:05:48.240 Lean in, because you can find out here, what is it that I should be praying for? 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:53.240 What is it that I want to pray for myself and pray for the other Christians around me 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:54.879 and pray for my local church? 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:59.079 And he's about to give it to us right here and it's all about having a vibrant living 00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:00.480 spirituality. 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.920 And so first, let's ask what's not in this prayer. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:07.160 And then secondly, very simple, ask what is in this prayer? 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:11.720 And we'll see just three aspects of true spirituality that he prays for us for. 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:14.759 Okay, so first, what is not in this prayer? 00:06:14.759 --> 00:06:15.759 Very simple. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:20.360 If you just look down at these clauses with me for a second and just try to notice the 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:23.719 language that he gives you, I'm just going to run through them. 00:06:23.719 --> 00:06:30.159 Verse 16, he says, when he prays, he says, I never cease to thank God for you. 00:06:30.159 --> 00:06:31.159 That's the first one. 00:06:31.159 --> 00:06:35.480 And then in verse 17, he says, I'm praying that the Lord would give you a spirit of wisdom 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:38.079 and revelation in the knowledge of him. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:41.839 And then he prays in verse 18 that you would have the eyes of your heart enlightened, that 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:44.680 you would know the hope to what he's called you. 00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:48.519 And then in verse 18 as well, that you would know the riches of his glorious inheritance 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:49.519 in the saints. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:54.920 And then lastly, the immeasurable greatness of power towards you. 00:06:54.920 --> 00:06:58.840 Now, those clauses are not easy to understand. 00:06:58.840 --> 00:07:02.560 You read through them and you say, okay, I don't know exactly know what he's praying 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:06.920 for me for yet, but we're going to come back to that in just a second. 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:09.720 But just notice first what's not there. 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:16.400 And what is notoriously absent is that he says nothing about health, circumstances, or the 00:07:16.400 --> 00:07:18.360 political scene. 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:19.880 He doesn't pray about circumstances. 00:07:19.880 --> 00:07:21.040 He doesn't pray about people's health. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:24.520 He doesn't pray about the politics of the day. 00:07:24.520 --> 00:07:26.120 And that is striking. 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:30.400 He says, the most important thing I want to pray for you is different than that. 00:07:30.400 --> 00:07:35.160 And it's striking because Paul is imprisoned in Rome as he writes this. 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:40.320 He is a man in chains and he is living under the emperor ship of Nero. 00:07:40.320 --> 00:07:45.360 Nero came to power in 54 AD and now Paul's writing this around 60. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:50.760 And this from 60 to 62 are the biggest wave of what we call neuronic persecution that 00:07:50.760 --> 00:07:52.560 happened in the first century. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.560 Nero's great persecution. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:59.520 Nero was an evil emperor and he killed many, many people, many Christians and people of 00:07:59.520 --> 00:08:00.920 other religions as well. 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:02.800 He was a brutal man. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:08.079 And Paul is living in his city under his imprisonment and it's so striking. 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:10.079 There's not a word about it. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:11.319 He doesn't say anything about Nero. 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:14.000 He doesn't say anything about his health and his circumstances. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:17.680 And he doesn't say anything about the Ephesians' health and circumstances or the political 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:18.680 scene. 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:19.800 Not at all. 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:23.400 And the point is not to say that it's wrong to pray for these things. 00:08:23.400 --> 00:08:24.960 No way. 00:08:24.960 --> 00:08:26.280 It's very good. 00:08:26.280 --> 00:08:29.680 We pray about these things every single Sunday, actually, in here. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:34.799 And Jesus in the Lord's Prayer, remember, he says, pray every day, Lord, give me today 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:36.000 daily bread. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.200 So we need to pray and ask that God would provide our food for us every day. 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:41.200 That's circumstances. 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.320 And we read in 1 Timothy 2, pray for the king, pray for the emperor so that there may be 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:48.480 peace for the church and the land all across the Psalms. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:49.759 Pray for the political scene. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:50.759 It's all over the place. 00:08:50.759 --> 00:08:55.560 1 Peter 5-7, cast your cares, your anxieties upon Jesus. 00:08:55.560 --> 00:08:57.279 Pray about your circumstances. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:00.679 The point is not to say don't pray for your circumstances or your health or the political 00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:07.559 scene, but it is to see that maybe that's not the first order of business in prayer. 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:12.240 And the first order of business in prayer that Paul gives us is to get deeper than that, 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:15.559 to pray something that is underneath circumstances. 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:21.120 And it's really just, this prayer is really just to pray for your heart, our hearts. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:23.600 And there's a big reason for that. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:27.960 It's exactly because of circumstances that Paul wants you to pray for something deeper 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:29.480 than circumstances. 00:09:29.480 --> 00:09:34.920 You know, if you've got great circumstances, you need to pray for your soul more than your 00:09:34.920 --> 00:09:36.360 circumstances. 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:40.200 You actually need to pray for your soul more than anybody else probably when your circumstances 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:41.879 are great. 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:46.879 Because when your circumstances are really good in your life, it is so easy to get very 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:53.120 comfortable and to say I'm doing just fine and to not see the deeper need, to not see 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:54.960 the thing that really gives you happiness. 00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:59.279 And how many stories do we read over and over and over and over and over again? 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:01.159 I can say it. 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:05.080 Of people who have gotten everything they've ever wanted out of life, every circumstance 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:08.120 they've ever wanted, but they're miserable. 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:10.200 And Paul is saying there's something deeper than that. 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:14.919 And you know, the other idea is that if your circumstances are bad, boy, your circumstances 00:10:14.919 --> 00:10:18.320 can be great, but they can change in an instant. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:23.039 And it really is true that for every single one of us, one day the saying will be true 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:27.399 for us, you're here today and gone tomorrow. 00:10:27.399 --> 00:10:30.480 Every one of us, the circumstances are going to fail at some point. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.719 And Paul is saying you need prayers, you need something in your soul that is deeper than 00:10:33.719 --> 00:10:38.240 that, that works in good circumstances and bad circumstances, something that can give 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:42.599 you an anchor that can hold you above the water line no matter how good it is or how 00:10:42.599 --> 00:10:44.199 bad it is in your life. 00:10:44.199 --> 00:10:45.199 And that's what he's praying about. 00:10:45.199 --> 00:10:48.639 And the answer is you need true spirituality. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:53.840 So secondly, and finally, what does he pray for? 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:55.840 We'll spend much of our time here. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:56.840 What does he pray for? 00:10:56.840 --> 00:11:00.080 He prays for a living, vibrant, true spirituality. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:02.360 Now what do I mean by that? 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:06.960 In Edinburgh, it's very normal to talk about being spiritual. 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:10.559 So ever since the time of the Enlightenment, the Scottish Enlightenment right here on our 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:14.799 streets, Edinburgh, this city, this great city has been a place where people more and 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:21.000 more for many seasons have stepped towards what you might call crass secularism. 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:25.919 And I don't mean that in a negative way, I simply mean by that a feeling, a belief that 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:29.199 there is nothing more than the eye I can see. 00:11:29.199 --> 00:11:31.439 All that there is is matter in motion. 00:11:31.439 --> 00:11:33.919 And there's a lot of people in our city who still believe that. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:36.319 Maybe you're here today still believing that. 00:11:36.319 --> 00:11:38.719 Ricky Gervais style secularism. 00:11:38.719 --> 00:11:40.240 There's nothing more than science. 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:41.240 Science is the God. 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:42.240 Science is what we have. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:46.680 And I think that more and more over the last decade, many, many people in our city have 00:11:46.680 --> 00:11:52.200 moved away from crass secularism and are willing to say, I'm a spiritual person. 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:59.080 So 65% to 68% of our city says I'm spiritual but not religious or self-identify as having 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:03.360 no religion but also still believing in something. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:07.560 And spirituality, modern spirituality is just a vague spiritualism. 00:12:07.560 --> 00:12:11.120 It's I know there's more than I can see but I'm not sure what it is. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:13.320 This happens in the Bible too. 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:19.720 The apostle Paul goes up, Marcel in Athens in Acts 17 and he says, I see you are very 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:20.720 spiritual. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.799 I see that you even worship and have statues towards unknown gods. 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:28.399 Just to say there's gods out there that we don't know that exist and so we're going to 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:30.560 make a statue to an unknown god. 00:12:30.560 --> 00:12:36.200 And what he does is he says, look, in a way that's a step in the right direction to realize 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:38.080 there is more than your eyes can see. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:40.960 But he says, let me take you to true spirituality. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:45.560 What the Bible does is it comes and says, it's not just vague spirituality, God really 00:12:45.560 --> 00:12:48.200 has revealed himself. 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:52.000 And you don't have to be merely spiritual, you can be truly spiritual. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:55.600 You can have a real object to place that spirituality upon. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:13:00.040 And so what he's teaching us here and praying for us is that we would have a vibrant Christian 00:13:00.040 --> 00:13:02.160 spirituality, a true spirituality. 00:13:02.160 --> 00:13:05.120 And here it is, it comes with three aspects to it. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:10.679 And the first is this, who can have true spirituality? 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:11.879 What is Christian spirituality? 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:15.320 Who is on the road to being truly spiritual? 00:13:15.320 --> 00:13:17.200 And that's the first thing he prays about. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:24.360 It's in verse 16, he says, I thank God always when I pray for you. 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:27.399 I thank God, I remember you in my prayers and thank God for you. 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:30.200 Okay, thank God for what specifically Paul? 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:36.480 And he back up to verse 15 and he says, I thank God because I have heard of your faith 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:40.120 in the Lord Jesus Christ and your love for all the saints. 00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:46.360 Now who can you say today that you are on the road of true spirituality? 00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:52.680 Here's how Paul says first, you have to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:13:52.680 --> 00:13:59.200 Now that word faith there is a word for deep personal trust. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:03.800 Not just a vision of spirituality that there is something more than meets the eye, but 00:14:03.800 --> 00:14:07.520 a trust, a personal relationship. 00:14:07.520 --> 00:14:09.920 And what does he say is the object of faith. 00:14:09.920 --> 00:14:13.200 Now if you've been a Christian for a long time, you've been in the church for a long 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:17.280 time, don't pass by this because you've heard it many times. 00:14:17.280 --> 00:14:22.440 But faith he says in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:25.480 And have you thought about every one of those words before? 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:32.360 Lord, he uses this word Lord Kirios in Greek and it's the word Kirios. 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:38.159 He picks it very specifically because in that time Nero the emperor was the one who was called 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:40.360 the Kirios. 00:14:40.360 --> 00:14:45.759 They would say Nero is Lord and Kaiser Kirios Caesar is Lord was a phrase that had been 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:49.039 spoken by the Roman Empire for generations. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:54.440 And when Paul says no in a time of under Nero the emperor, he stands in the city of Rome 00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:58.240 under Nero's chains and says Jesus is Kirios. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:02.880 He's making a massive statement because what people believed about Kaiser Kirios Caesar 00:15:02.880 --> 00:15:07.240 as Lord is that the Caesar is divine. 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:13.160 And so when you say Kirios what you're saying is I believe Jesus is God because people believe 00:15:13.160 --> 00:15:15.640 that Caesar was God. 00:15:15.640 --> 00:15:19.360 And Paul saying here first are you on the road to true spirituality? 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:24.160 Well can you say have you said have you professed like our new members today? 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:28.879 Jesus Christ is Lord meaning when you say that I really believe that this human being 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:31.879 who came in the middle of history is God. 00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:36.719 And then he says not only is he Lord he's also Christ and that's the word savior or 00:15:36.719 --> 00:15:42.439 Messiah and you put it all together and you say look if you think you're a spiritual person 00:15:42.439 --> 00:15:47.519 if you want to be on the road to true spirituality if you say I'm a Christian you're not yet 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:55.319 on the road you're not yet a Christian until you have professed Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:15:55.319 --> 00:15:57.199 Jesus is the Lord and the Christ. 00:15:57.199 --> 00:16:01.559 Jesus is God and Savior redeemer of the world. 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:03.720 That's what it means to be a Christian. 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:05.600 And so is that you today? 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:09.519 And if it is then you are on the road a living spirituality. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:14.960 And then he says secondly I've heard also about your love and then he uses this phrase 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:19.360 for all the saints very important don't pass by it. 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:25.920 Your love meaning he said look when you have faith in Jesus you're saved you're redeemed 00:16:25.920 --> 00:16:31.000 you're a Christian you're part of the family of God and then he says but I've also I pray 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:35.360 and thank God because I've heard of your love as well. 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:41.400 And what he's saying is not only did I hear that your believers I also heard that you 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:47.919 have a faith that is visible that your faith is not dead faith your faith is full of vibrancy 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:52.879 it's loving and he says love for all the saints. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:59.079 Why does he say that all the saints what is a saint a saint is no special Christian though 00:16:59.079 --> 00:17:02.679 the words been used and understood like that many times it's not a Christian that's done 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:07.400 particularly valiant deeds or something like that a saint is just anybody that believes 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:09.079 in Jesus. 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:15.519 And he says I've heard for your love for all the saints every saint meaning that in Ephesus 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:20.919 in the Roman Empire there were all sorts of ethnicities all sorts of religions and they 00:17:20.919 --> 00:17:23.399 did not mix with one another. 00:17:23.399 --> 00:17:27.319 And you had this very interesting thing happen that when Jesus and the gospel came along 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:31.599 all of a sudden people of different ethnic backgrounds and different religions were joining 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:37.839 together on these Sunday services in people's homes and people said what is going on here 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.119 these people are all mixing with one another and that's what he's talking about he's saying 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:46.759 I heard that when you came to faith in Jesus you got past the bounds of separating because 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:53.079 of ethnicity separating because of socioeconomic division separating by your previous religions 00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:57.319 all of a sudden I'm seeing all these people together and I've heard that you love Jew 00:17:57.319 --> 00:18:02.679 and Gentile equally and so he's saying I see the vibrancy of your faith that it's really 00:18:02.679 --> 00:18:07.039 changing you it's really affecting you it's doing something in your life. 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:13.559 Now listen are you on the road of a growing vibrant spirituality one of the ways Christian 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:21.839 friends that you can know that is if you have love for all the saints do you love people 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:26.039 because of Jesus Christ in your life that are not like you do you love people of the 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:30.519 opposite political persuasion and do you love them because they believe the same gospel 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:34.440 that you believe in do you love different ethnicities and nationalities it's not only 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:39.960 love in the local community but it's really saying love for the global church and are 00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:43.640 you able you know one of the ways you know that you're growing in a vibrancy and living 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:49.320 love is when you can interact with Christians from all different backgrounds and really 00:18:49.320 --> 00:18:53.000 love them and really want to listen to them and really want to say I love to see what 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:58.480 God is doing in your life and in your church despite what they might think different differently 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:02.880 than you than us about secondary secondary stuff that's one of the ways you know you're 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:07.960 really growing when you can say you know these these people they move a little bit too much 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:12.160 in their worship service but boy I love what's what God's doing in their life you know you 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:16.520 say I don't care about the secondary stuff I love to see what's going on what God's 00:19:16.520 --> 00:19:21.040 doing in them and that's a vibrant living faith now that's that's the first act faith 00:19:21.040 --> 00:19:26.200 and love he wants you to have a living faith in Jesus that's the first step on the road 00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:33.039 to true spirituality the second and this is really the main point of this whole prayer 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:40.799 it's found in verse 18 it's the grammatical center and it's this that he says I pray that 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:45.960 you would know that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you now that's 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:51.600 the grammatical center that's really the heartbeat of the passage his prayer is that you may 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:56.399 know that's where you get to the main verb of this long sentence this is also a long 00:19:56.399 --> 00:20:00.919 sentence like the last couple weeks and the one of the ways you can understand the prayer 00:20:00.919 --> 00:20:06.279 is then to move outward from that you may know in sort of concentric circles and realize 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:11.519 that everything else he says is that you may know that you may know something more and 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:15.759 more and so you take a step back and he says I want you to have the eyes of your heart 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:21.319 enlightened that's just another way of saying I want you to really know in your soul so you 00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:24.639 have to you have to have a light come into your life to be able to see with your physical 00:20:24.639 --> 00:20:29.639 eyes right and he's saying but I want you to have light into your soul so that you can 00:20:29.639 --> 00:20:34.159 see spiritual things too that's just that that you may know that you may see that you 00:20:34.159 --> 00:20:39.559 may desire that you may more and more want it's desiring language or take a step back 00:20:39.559 --> 00:20:44.399 from there he says I pray that you would have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in your 00:20:44.399 --> 00:20:50.200 life that you would know God that word he uses for knowledge there has a little prefix 00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:54.680 on the front it's not the normal word for knowledge it's epi knowledge is what he puts 00:20:54.680 --> 00:21:00.519 up the prefix meaning more deeper that's what he says so in all these different ways he's 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:08.960 saying I just want your soul to know who you really are more and more and more that your 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:13.039 your soul would be enlightened by the spirit so you could see now let's summarize it what 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:18.640 is true spirituality for Paul it's walking down the road of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:23.240 with a love for the church a love for the people God's people and then this is all it 00:21:23.240 --> 00:21:30.880 is he says growing growing growing is knowing more and more over time what God has already 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:37.880 given you growing growing growing is just knowing more and more over time who you already are 00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:42.560 so a lot of times people will talk about Christian spirituality Christian life Christian growth 00:21:42.560 --> 00:21:48.000 as climbing a ladder there are certain forms of mysticism in the history of the church 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:52.400 that have talked about the Christian faith is all about climbing the ladder to God you've 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:56.279 got to grow and grow and grow more and more and get closer and closer and closer but 00:21:56.279 --> 00:22:01.720 actually Paul teaches the exact opposite idea which is to say that Christian spirituality 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:09.799 true spiritual life is really about seeing that God walked down the ladder to you already 00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:14.599 and growing more and more and more in the realization of that that you already have everything you 00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:20.039 need that you already are everything that Jesus wants to give you and is going to make 00:22:20.039 --> 00:22:26.759 you that it's yours already that you have it that's true spirituality and so as we step 00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:32.679 towards the end just to he gives you two main ideas about this that you may know know what 00:22:32.679 --> 00:22:37.759 in the first one is he says that you may know the hope to what you've been called verse 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:42.799 18 that you may know the hope that he has already called you to now you already says 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:47.519 he says that you would know the hope you've already been called to and that's not the 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:54.159 normal way that we think about hope so we might ask do you have hope do you have something 00:22:54.159 --> 00:23:02.240 to hope in and what Paul is saying is no you do have hope but do you realize that so what 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:07.799 is hope hope is just a certainty that you have a secure future in Jesus Christ and he's 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:13.039 saying you've already got it but I want you to know that you have it that's the prayer 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:17.799 I want you to know what you've already been given in other words he's saying I'm praying 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:21.879 for you that you wouldn't default to your factory setting which is to believe that right 00:23:21.879 --> 00:23:26.440 now the most important thing in your life or whether your circumstances are good or bad 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:30.240 and he said no you can you already have a hope that you've been given that is so much deeper 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:36.319 than that hope the way the Bible puts it a big metaphor a lot of times hope is attached 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:42.279 to language about the seas about sailing and things like that throughout the Bible hope 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:50.480 is really hope is a life vest hope is a buoy that keeps you above the waterline when the 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:54.439 tsunami of your circumstances are trying to suck you under suck your heart underneath 00:23:54.439 --> 00:23:58.519 the water and drown you hope is that thing that's keeping you above the waterline in 00:23:58.519 --> 00:24:04.319 the soul that's keeping you afloat and what Paul is trying to say is look you've got a 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:10.559 yacht to sit on you know you've got a yacht that is anchored that is not going anywhere 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:15.000 no matter what your circumstances do to you but you're but in your heart you think that 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:20.119 all you're wearing is toddler floaties you don't know what you have you know you've got 00:24:20.119 --> 00:24:25.919 a hope that's never going to go away but in your heart you're letting your heart be like 00:24:25.919 --> 00:24:30.119 wearing toddler floaties in the midst of a tsunami but you're standing on a yacht and 00:24:30.119 --> 00:24:34.279 it's anchored you have a hope that anchors your soul and it can't be taken away from 00:24:34.279 --> 00:24:38.839 you and he's saying really true spirituality is just growing more and more and more into 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:42.279 the knowledge of that and then he says and here's how you can see that more and more 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:48.799 and it's the last one that you would see the power that's at work in your life so he says 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:54.239 in verse 19 and I pray that you would see the immeasurable greatness of his power at 00:24:54.239 --> 00:24:59.799 work in you now he says do you see the hope the yacht the anchor of the soul that you 00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:05.159 already have in Jesus Christ that your future is secure no matter what your circumstances 00:25:05.159 --> 00:25:10.519 are but then he says and it's because you've got power in your life and you but you've 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:15.799 got to see it you've got to look for it you've got to know it's there and the language he 00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:20.960 gives is really important because he says do you see the immeasurable greatness of his 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:27.000 power in your life and he chooses I think his words really carefully there because he 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:35.720 uses this word immeasurable also can be translated incomparable and that's important there are 00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:40.039 there are many powerful people in the world right now I've looked up Forbes list of the 00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:45.799 most powerful people in the world right now I wonder if we all took a poll who are the 00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:48.720 five most powerful people in the world right now what everybody would say you know there 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:54.200 really is a way to quantify that to some degree although it's it's it's always an open question 00:25:54.200 --> 00:25:59.600 but the three most powerful people that Forbes says are in the world right now is Xi Jinping 00:25:59.600 --> 00:26:06.279 in China and then and then Donald Trump and then Vladimir Putin that's what Forbes says 00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:10.039 are the three most powerful people in the world now I don't know if that's true but 00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:14.680 there there is in some sense a way to quantify that and measure it come up with a calculation 00:26:14.680 --> 00:26:21.160 perhaps of what how do you qualify power that's why Paul is in chains under the emperor Nero 00:26:21.160 --> 00:26:27.640 who was a very powerful person and that is why Paul says I want you to know the immeasurable 00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:33.640 greatness of Jesus power because he wants to say listen every single way you've seen power 00:26:33.640 --> 00:26:38.840 in this life is not like what I'm talking about there is a sense in which you can quantify 00:26:38.840 --> 00:26:43.120 the power of these people but you cannot quantify the immeasurable greatness of the power of 00:26:43.120 --> 00:26:49.720 Jesus Christ but you've got to have the eyes of your soul enlightened so that you can see 00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:52.960 it because right now you're looking out at the world and you say I don't know that I 00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:58.799 feel that way I don't know that I see that and he's saying my prayer are you praying 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:03.920 this for yourself Lord give me a vision for the greatness of the power of Jesus Christ 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:08.120 that is at work in the world right now because sometimes I can't see it I can't see it with 00:27:08.120 --> 00:27:13.759 my soul I've got on toddler floaties I want I want the yacht I want to be able to see 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:20.480 it all the way and he goes on to use these this language where he says Jesus Christ 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:26.920 power is so big that it is ever since he was raised from the dead he has power above every 00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:32.039 rule every authority every dominion every name that is named and so he's saying that 00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:39.319 Jesus Christ is powerful above all the invisible powers Satan the demonic the spirits the angels 00:27:39.319 --> 00:27:44.839 and he's saying he's saying Jesus is so powerful over all the visible authorities to like Nero 00:27:44.839 --> 00:27:48.200 and like all this big list of names we could name of the most powerful people in the world 00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:53.480 every government it's nothing it's small it's apples to oranges and he's saying this is 00:27:53.480 --> 00:28:00.599 his prayer for all of us for you today follower of Jesus he's saying I just want you more 00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:08.639 and more each day each year to be able to know that the power of Jesus Christ the power 00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:15.080 of God that raised Jesus from the dead really is the power in your life right now the Holy 00:28:15.080 --> 00:28:20.280 Spirit that that's the power that's at work in your soul do you know that do you see that 00:28:20.280 --> 00:28:24.520 walking down the road of true spirituality is just growing ever more into the knowledge 00:28:24.520 --> 00:28:30.720 of that now let me close let me close with something even more astounding even more 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:37.000 important in this passage and it's the hardest thing to I think the hardest couple lines 00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:42.279 to interpret they tell you in seminary you don't you don't end a sermon with the hardest 00:28:42.279 --> 00:28:48.000 thing to talk about but we are today because you've got it you don't you don't want to 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:53.920 miss this even though it's easy to pass by and it's this that if you want real spirituality 00:28:53.920 --> 00:29:01.680 in your life true spirituality to move beyond the vagueness to grow as a Christian vibrancy 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:07.279 and the most important thing you can see is two little clauses that he adds in this passage 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:17.200 that are easy to pass by and they're in verse 18 and 22 and in verse 18 he says he says 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:24.160 that you may know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and I'll 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:31.640 miss this he says I want you to know what are the riches the treasure the wealth not 00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:37.120 right noticed because when you first read it you'll think this way not of my or your 00:29:37.120 --> 00:29:42.960 glorious riches it's not your glorious riches your glorious inheritance now it says it's 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:48.560 I want you to know about his treasure who's he talking about he's talking about Jesus 00:29:48.560 --> 00:29:53.160 and he's saying what I hope you will see that will help you to grow as a Christian is that 00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:59.280 you'll see not your great inheritance and you have one in Jesus but his treasure his 00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:05.319 great inheritance and then he says and that is the saints now what is he saying he's 00:30:05.319 --> 00:30:09.799 saying this one of the ways to grow in your faith is every day to wake up and realize 00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:16.839 that that what this little clause says is that Jesus Christ has a great treasure a wealth 00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:23.839 that's standing in front of his face his treasure is his inheritance what God the Father wants 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:29.879 to give to him and the answer is the saints he's saying I hope that you'll know that this 00:30:29.879 --> 00:30:36.799 is Jesus's world and you're living in it and he's becoming more and more and more the visible 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:42.199 king and he's got a glorious inheritance that God the Father is giving him and that treasure 00:30:42.199 --> 00:30:50.319 is you that's his inheritance that's his treasure he he's saying one of the ways to really grow 00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:56.639 is to be able to say every single day that Jesus Christ delights in me and his opinion 00:30:56.639 --> 00:31:03.759 of me is so high that he calls me his treasure and in verse 22 he does it again this is the 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:09.759 only definition of the church we have I think in the whole New Testament he says God has 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:15.119 put everything under Jesus' feet and given him as head over everything to the church 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:20.959 and the church is what his body the fullness of him now you read the commentators on this 00:31:20.959 --> 00:31:27.799 and they will all say the same thing nobody knows what this means the church is his body 00:31:27.799 --> 00:31:35.559 the fullness of him what does that mean it's mysterious but we all know the right direction 00:31:35.559 --> 00:31:40.119 that we can go into what it means and the right direction is it somehow means that though 00:31:40.119 --> 00:31:45.559 Jesus is the king of all the world and he is the fullness of all things meaning he fills 00:31:45.559 --> 00:31:52.119 everything up fills everything up with power he's holding it all together right now somehow 00:31:52.119 --> 00:32:00.239 Christians the church his bride the saints those who follow him fill him up we fill him 00:32:00.239 --> 00:32:04.919 up as he's filling up the whole world now it's metaphorical language it's mysterious 00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:11.840 language the best way I can think to describe it is simply this as we close imagine the 00:32:11.840 --> 00:32:18.080 greatest king that's ever lived the king that that everybody wants to live in his land the 00:32:18.080 --> 00:32:23.519 king of the kingdom who's got so much authority so much on his plate so much power and you 00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:29.480 know he's protecting us this king and he's everything's coming into his court and he's 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:33.480 dealing with so much business you know he's so busy there's a lot to do when you're king 00:32:33.480 --> 00:32:39.440 of a great kingdom and he's in the middle of the work day and you know there's so much 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:45.799 on his plate but then all of a sudden around all of his advisors and all of his staff his 00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:50.559 little children run into the room and you know he just sweeps him up into his arms he 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:57.360 just gathers him up and as he is filling the whole land with his dominion he turns to the 00:32:57.359 --> 00:33:03.559 kids and says but you know what you fill me up you you keep me going you know you're my 00:33:03.559 --> 00:33:09.759 joy you're the apple of my you're you're my heart you are the thing that makes me want 00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:14.639 to rule this land I want to give you everything I want to give you an inheritance and that 00:33:14.639 --> 00:33:22.679 I think that's what it's saying Jesus Christ we for him we are his heart we're the church 00:33:22.680 --> 00:33:31.120 is the apple of his eye and true spirituality is every single day grasping to new depths 00:33:31.120 --> 00:33:41.120 Jesus Christ came into this world to die for me so that I might become his future joy 00:33:41.120 --> 00:33:46.600 Jesus Christ came into this world to give everything away for me so that he could delight 00:33:46.599 --> 00:33:53.599 in me and that'll grow you up let's pray father we thank you for this prayer and we 00:33:53.599 --> 00:34:01.319 just pray it now so we do pray Lord exactly what Paul tells us here that deeper than circumstances 00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:07.480 deeper than health deeper than the political scene we want hearts that are vibrant and 00:34:07.480 --> 00:34:13.199 awake true spirituality and we want to be able to admit that there is so much more than 00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:19.159 our eyes can see and we want to wake up every day really knowing that and not in a vague 00:34:19.159 --> 00:34:26.480 way but with our eyes set on you God we want to know you better so I just pray Lord that 00:34:26.480 --> 00:34:32.519 throughout our church as we've received new members today and that all of us would be 00:34:32.519 --> 00:34:38.719 reset reset to knowing that we exist to grow and know God more and that's our fundamental 00:34:38.719 --> 00:34:44.079 vocation in this life and so I pray that you would strike our hearts now as we come and 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:49.839 sing to the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit come give us the spirit you are the spirit of wisdom 00:34:49.839 --> 00:34:56.000 and revelation in the growing knowledge of Jesus Christ so we pray for that now and Jesus's 00:34:56.000 --> 00:35:10.840 name. Amen.