In the sermon 'Light to Know the Riches of Knowing God,' Jason Dohm delves into Ephesians 1:18-21 as part of Paul's prayer for the Ephesian believers. He emphasizes the significance of the 'Spirit of wisdom and revelation' in deepening the understanding and knowledge of God. Dohm articulates that knowing God leads to understanding the hope of His calling, the riches of His inheritance, and the power of His resurrection. Through prayer, believers can seek enlightenment to comprehend these spiritual truths. Paul encourages believers to embrace the hope of their calling, which includes the confident expectation of being conformed to the image of Christ and receiving an eternal inheritance. The sermon also highlights the immense power of God, as demonstrated through the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ, which is actively working in believers. Dohm concludes by urging believers to pray for their brethren to have minds flooded with these truths, ensuring they live with the comfort and encouragement of their spiritual inheritance.

All right, our sermon text for today will be Ephesians 1 verses 18 through 21 But for context we will be reading the whole prayer of Paul and Ephesians from 15 to 23 Therefore I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.

And He put all things under His feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all. Let's pray. Heavenly Father just want to thank you and praise you for giving us another Sunday, another day to come away from weekly labors and recreations, Lord God, to focus on you, the one true living God, to pray to you, to sing praises to your name, to hear your word read publicly and preached. Lord God, mark a day for our souls, a day to be refreshed and... Lord God, we do pray for the sermon today.

Pray for Mr. Dome that you would just give him words to speak. Pray for those that are listening, all of us, Lord God, that you would give us ears to hear. For those of us that know you, Lord God, that we would have a greater vision of you, that we would know you more today than we did yesterday, that you would show us sins in our lives that need to be repented of, Lord God, that we would be more holy today. And for those that don't know you, Lord God, just pray that today would be the day of salvation for them, that You would tear out their hearts of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, that You would save even, that You would save those in our midst today.

Thank You Father for this time. I pray that you would bless your sons and we pray, Amen. I've reached the age where I'm Mr. Dome to men who are about to be married. It can be a bitter pill at times.

The title of the sermon this morning is Light to Know the Riches of Knowing God. Paul is talking about the contents of his prayer for the Ephesian believers and he's praying that they would know God. And there are riches associated with knowing this God and he wants them to have all the riches that ought to be theirs through knowing this God in Christ. Last week Paul began to relate to these Ephesian believers how he remembers them in his prayers. He tells them that he's praying for them and he tells them the contents of His prayer for them.

That continues into our text this week. Look at the end of verse 16 into verse 17. Making mention of you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." Not that in knowing God they would be given a general disposition of wisdom and revelation. No, He is actually saying the reverse of that. That the Holy Spirit would enable them to know God.

I made the argument last week that I like the translations that actually capitalize the S, the capital S Spirit of wisdom and revelation. The Holy Spirit who gives wisdom and revelation in order that they might know God and when they have known Him that they might know Him more and that when they have known Him more They might know him more still. We went last week to Ephesians 3 and saw that that's actually what Paul wanted for himself. He counted all things in his past. Rubbish.

That he might gain Christ. That he might know Christ. And he ends up saying, not that I have already apprehended, but I press forward. Paul was satisfied in God, but not satisfied in his experience with God, knowing that there was more to know of God. There was a deeper way to know this God and wanting it and pressing forward into it.

So this is the framework for today's text. That's the backdrop. That's the context for everything that Paul says in the four verses that we're studying. Again, it's part of a long sentence. We finished a long sentence, verses 3 through 14, and now we're in the second really long sentence.

If we all knew Greek, it would be brutal because it's not broken up in Greek. Thankfully, our translators have broken it up for us. But it's a long sentence, verses 15 through 23. And so we just have to keep this as a unified thought and keep looking back to what it connects to and looking forward to what it connects to. So I'll be trying to do that today.

So we come to the text, let's ask for God to help us. Father, I Thank you for the comforts and the encouragements of the gospel. The good news of Jesus Christ is so full of comforts and encouragements. We should never lose sight of them. We should always have them in our thoughts, but we know that day to day, week to week, month to month, that's not always our experience and that you bring us to text like this in order to help us.

So please help us. We just cry out to you that you wouldn't have us come and go today as we are, but you would move us forward, propel us forward by your word. Help the preaching and the hearing in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so let's subdivide. We'll begin with just the first part of verse 18.

Hopefully you still have a finger in Ephesians 1, and let me reread the first part of verse 18 and then talk about it. Paul says, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling. Here Paul prays for light to know the hope of his calling. So if you're taking notes on the handout by filling in blanks, hope in calling fills in the blanks.

Paul prays for light to know the hope of his calling. We have a beginning phrase here followed by three what's. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is, what are, what is. If you have an ESV it says the eyes of your heart instead of understanding. Actually, if you have an NASV or an ESV or an NIV, they all say the eyes of your heart.

That's actually a textual variant. What in the world is that? It means that they're actually, those translations are actually translating a different Greek word than the King James or the New King James. We have, we're using a translation with a superior translation philosophy, one man's opinion. And so they're translating the Greek word that came to us from the received text instead of the critical text.

I love my NIV, I reference my NIV, but their philosophy of translation is not as sound as our New King James. So there it is. I just pulled the pin on the grenade and rolled it out there. I'm just going to leave it there. If you want to talk to me about it afterwards, you're welcome to.

Thank God for the New King James and its translation philosophy and the excellent translation that the ESV does. I like it when they're translating the same word and they're not in this particular place. For the word that the new King James, the Greek word that the new King James is translating, if you go to the lexicon for that word, the primary meaning means the mind as a faculty of understanding. So understanding is a perfectly good translation, but if you were just to expand that to a fuller sense of the meaning, you have the mind as a faculty of understanding. So this is about the minds of believers being flooded with clarity and truth by the Holy Spirit.

Remember we're reaching back into verse 17 where Paul is praying that they would have the Spirit, I think capital S, Spirit of wisdom and understanding. And it's the Spirit then who floods the mind of the believer with clarity and truth on these three things. So now we deal with the first what. What is the hope of His calling? Paul in his prayers asks that the Holy Spirit would flood the minds of the Ephesian believers with clarity and truth about the hope of God's calling.

That sounds good. I want that. I want the Holy Spirit to flood my mind with clarity and truth about the hope of God's calling. The calling of God ought to fill the believer with confident expectation. Hope equals confident expectation.

Sometimes the world equates hope with wishful thinking, the New Testament knows nothing of that sense of hope. I hope I get this for Christmas. That is not the New Testament usage of the word hope. The New Testament uses hope as a confidence expectation, of confidence that the great and precious promises given by God are all yes and amen in Jesus. Not one of them will ever fail.

And so all of the Christians' hope in the New Testament is just like standing on bedrock. A confident expectation. Not wishful thinking in any way. What does it mean when God calls a person out of darkness into his marvelous light? What does that person have every right to confidently expect.

Paul is arguing that there's a series of things, when you've been called out of darkness into his marvelous light, there is a series of things that you have every right to confidently expect. Great and precious promises which are all yes and amen in Jesus. The blood has been spilled, the price has been paid, they are yours now claim them." That's really the sense of the argument being made. Turn to Romans 8. Actually, Romans 8 is going to be helpful all day.

We're going to be here a couple of times, and we could have been here more. Romans 8. Romans 8 says some good and helpful things about the call of God and the called of God. Romans 8, I'll be reading verses 28 through 30. Romans 8, 28 through 30.

Paul writes, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called, whom he called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified." I should say that in scripture the word called is used in two ways. There is a general call and then there is a particular or special or effectual call. There is a universal call.

The gospel to the world. Be reconciled to God through Christ. Repent and believe and you will be saved. That message has gone into many, many, many years. The general call of the gospel to be reconciled to God through Christ, to repent and believe and be saved.

An instance of that is Matthew 22 verse 14 where Jesus says, many are called, but few are chosen. Many have the words of the gospel come into their ears, but few of all who hear it are actually born again. That's using this word called in the general universal sense. Many are called but few are chosen. Romans 8 is clearly using called in the particular or special or effectual call in that sense.

Look again at verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God. Not just those who have heard the gospel, But those who have responded to the gospel are born again, love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. The called have every right to confidently expect that God is working all things together for their good. Not as wishful thinking, but as standing on bedrock.

If you are called by God, this is the hope of your calling. That God has brought you out of darkness into His marvelous light And now he's weaving this tapestry, all things together, even the things that seem difficult or even evil on the outside. God is weaving them together for your good. You've been brought to love him and now Even the bad things are good. This is a tremendous hope for the called.

The called had every right to confidently expect that. Look again at verse 29. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he, Jesus, might be the firstborn among many brethren. Can you imagine a more glorious hope this side of heaven that God's not going to leave you alone to wallow around in your own inadequacies and sins and failings, but that he's actually going to take an active role in your life to conform you into the image of Jesus. Let's have more of that.

But the called believers have every right to confidently expect that. They should look for God conforming them into the image of his son because that is the hope of those who are called. Not wishful thinking, but standing on bedrock. Finally, look again at verse 30. Moreover whom he predestined, these he also called.

Whom He called, these He also justified, and whom He justified, these He also glorified. This verse is sometimes called the unbreakable chain of salvation. You have this chain, And it starts before you ever take a breath. It starts in eternity past. We encountered this in Ephesians chapter 1.

Chosen before the foundation of the world. Those he predestined, he called. They weren't always saved, but he always planned to save them. And in time and space, in their life, He called them, not just generally, but effectually. He called them out of darkness into light and he justified them.

And just as surely as he called and justified them, he will glorify them. He will, He will, He will. There's really no wiggle room in that chain. If you are predestined, you are called. If you are called, you are justified.

If you are justified, you are glorified. Paul prays that the Holy Spirit would flood the minds of believers with clarity and truth about the hope of God's calling. It's possible for all those hopes to be true of you and for you to lose sight of them and not benefit from the comfort and encouragement that you ought to have. You ought to have a confident expectation of it but because you don't know God much you lose sight. Paul is praying that that not happen.

That the eyes of their understanding, the eyes of their minds would be flooded with light. To see it, to know it. Back to Ephesians 1. We will continue with the next what. The second half of verse 18.

What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints? What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? Paul prays for light to know the riches of his inheritance. Riches and inheritance, fills in the blanks if you're taking notes that way. Paul prays for light to know the riches of his inheritance.

Paul prays that the Holy Spirit would flood the minds of believers with clarity and truth about the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in the saints. There are some commentators, they tend to be the more modern commentators, that say that this means that the saints are the inheritance, that God is inheriting them, and that Paul's intent is to show the saints how precious they are to God. I do believe there is a clear biblical teaching that God's people is His inheritance. That's easy to prove in other places. That is true, His people are precious to Him, and we should actually take encouragement from knowing how precious we are to God.

I say amen to all that. I don't think that's what Paul is teaching here. The older commentators tend to teach that Paul is actually continuing down a line which he already established in verse 11. In him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined. God pre-planned to give his people an inheritance.

And which Paul continued in at the end of verse 13 into verse 14, The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. I think Paul is building on what he started in verse 11 and continued in verses 13 and 14. Paul calls it God's inheritance simply because it is the inheritance that God has for his saints, that God is giving to his saints. This inheritance is the possession of the saints. It resides in the saints.

It was God's inheritance that he gave to his people. And what is this inheritance which Paul describes as riches and full of glory? So he starts to add adjectives to help you understand the nature of the inheritance. It is riches. It's riches.

It's not a little inheritance. It's a massively big, wonderful inheritance. A glorious inheritance. As I said in a prior sermon when we encountered this inheritance, because of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ, His inheritance is our inheritance. In giving us Christ, God has given us everything.

He who has not withheld his son will freely give us all things. That's back in Romans 8 also. So I don't want to constrain or narrow down our sense of the inheritance, But Paul does give us some indications about this inheritance. So back to Romans 8 for a moment. Romans 8 verses 16 through 18.

He talks about us being heirs and joint heirs with Christ. And of course that is unbreakably joined together with the idea of inheritance. The heir inherits. So Romans eight verses sixteen through eighteen. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

And if children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Just listen to that last verse again. He's just talked about us being heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. And he essentially says, here's what that means. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed.

For believers, for joint heirs with Christ, there is an inheritance in the future that dwarfs the sufferings of the present. Dwarfs the sufferings of the present. Just casts a shadow over the sufferings of the present and make them seem insignificant. Even if they're tremendous in the moment. As joint heirs with Christ, we suffer now in this sin-sick world.

It's impossible to be a believer and not suffer in this sin-sick world. Some suffer more, some suffer less, but if you're in Jesus, you will suffer in this sin-sick world. Joint heirs have a glorious future awaiting that dwarfs the sufferings. Consider what Jesus said in John. In John 14 verses 1-3, Jesus says, Let not your heart be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions or many dwellings. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also. That's John 14 1-3 Jesus came, lived, died, went to prepare a dwelling place for all His people and then He's going to bring them to be with him there for eternity.

He says almost the same thing as he's praying for his people in John 17. So you remember this long prayer that Jesus prays in John 17, often known as the Great High Priestly Prayer. At the end of that prayer, he prays for himself, then he prays for his immediate disciples, and then he prays for all the disciples in the future, all of his followers in the future. This is the part of that prayer when he's praying for me because I'm a disciple. He's praying for you if you're a disciple.

John 17, 24, he says, Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me for you have loved me before the foundation of the world for disciples." There is a future in store where you get to see the glory that God gave his son and experience it and enjoy it forever. We're actually about to encounter this in Ephesians chapter 2. We're not too far from the early verses of Ephesians chapter 2. Listen to verse 7. You'll have to forgive it's in the middle of another long sentence so it won't make sense by itself but you'll get the point.

Ephesians 2 verse 7, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." That's saying the same thing. They're in the ages to come After human history as we know it has been brought to a close and he's separated the sheep from the goats, his people will be brought near him that he might show them the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. We'll get to see all of the riches that we have in Christ Jesus and to experience them. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, this is like Moses being given the opportunity by God to go up on Mount Nebo and to look across into the promised land.

He wasn't going to be able to go there himself. He did spiritually, but he didn't physically. God gave him the privilege to go up on the mountain and to look across the Jordan and to see the land that was promised to him. Lloyd-Jones says, Paul is praying that for you. That God would give you the grace to be able to go up on the mountain.

You can't go across the Jordan yet, but you can look across it from the mountaintop and to see all the things that have been promised to you that you will enjoy in your future. These things that dwarf your present sufferings. Paul prays that the Holy Spirit would flood the minds of believers with clarity and truth about the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in the saints. You have the right to the inheritance if you're a believer, and you have the right to think about it and have the comfort and encouragement that go along with being up on Mount Debo looking across into the Promised Land. Now verses 19 through 21 Ephesians 1 verses 19 and 21 The third what?

And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe? According to the working of his mighty power which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. We're stopping there but Paul doesn't stop there. Paul is just going to add to that and we'll get there next week. Paul prays for light to know his power working in us who believe.

So if you're taking notes on the handout, filling in blanks, power and believe, fill in the blanks. Paul prays for light to know his power working in us who believe. I think I should say four things about this power right out of Paul's description of it. Number one, it is an immense, undefeatable, irresistible power. But Paul is actually piling up adjectives to convince you that it is an immense, undefeatable, irresistible power.

This is an instance, one of the instances where Paul heaps up words for effect. Verse 19, exceeding greatness, this is what he says about the power. Mighty power. And then he proceeds to Give us an example of the empty grave, the kind of power that can empty out a grave with life. It's the almighty power of God.

God is omnipotent. Omnipotent. Almighty. Omnipotent, almighty. His power is a power of exceeding greatness.

His power is a mighty power. He is omnipotent, almighty. Number two, it is a power which is toward believers. Verse 19, his power toward us who believe. If you thought that the grace of God and the love of God for his children were primarily sentimental, Paul wants to separate you from that notion.

The grace of God and the love of God are also very practical. God acts on them. God's grace and His love spur God to exercise His power on behalf of the objects of His love. It's not just sentiment. I love those adopted children.

He does. He feels the sentiment. There is great feeling. They are the apple of his eye. But it doesn't stop at feeling.

It is a power which is towards believer. Which brings us to number three. Number three, it is a working power. Second half of verse 19, first half of verse 20. According to the working of his mighty power which he worked in Christ.

Paul is speaking of more than theoretical power, potential power. Paul is speaking of active power, deployed power. This power towards believers is power that God actually deploys on their behalf to help them, to comfort them, to sustain them, to encourage them, to grow them, to defend them. Number four, it is a resurrecting and glorifying power. It's a power that resurrects and a power that glorifies And then he gives us the example of Jesus' resurrection and exaltation to the right hand of God the Father.

So it is the power that both made the tomb empty and established the Lord Jesus in the place of greatest honor and authority in all of the universe seated at God's right hand. Now This is a great example of the exercise of God's mighty power, but it certainly isn't the only example. This is the God who called the worlds into existence by speaking things out of nothing. God did that. This is the God who parted the Red Sea so that his people walked across on dry land and then 40 years later parted the Jordan River So they could do the same.

And on, and on, and on. So why the resurrection and the exaltation of Jesus? I think it's so plain when you look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 is the great resurrection chapter. It tells us why the resurrection matters and it says without the resurrection we have nothing.

That's the argument of the chapter. Listen, or follow along, better yet, follow along with me as I read 1 Corinthians 15. I'll read 20 through 23 and then I'll skip to the end of the chapter and I'll tell you when I'm doing it so you can follow along if you want to. 1 Corinthians 15, 20 through 23. Paul writes, But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at his coming." Now skip to verse 54 to the end of the chapter. Same chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, 54 to the end of the chapter. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

In verse 26, Paul had called to death the last enemy. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. That was verse 26. When this happens, Christ is out of enemies. He's out of enemies.

He conquers the very last one. Death is the last one to fall. Continuing in verse 55, oh death where is your sting? Oh Hades where is your victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.

But Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. A resurrection is proof that Christ will conquer every enemy. The last enemy is death. Jesus is alive.

And he's going to raise all of his people bodily at the end of this age. And Paul says, as a consequence of that, as a consequence that the last enemy of Christ will fall, he will conquer them all. Verse 58, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Because you can afford to. Afford to what?

You can afford to be steadfast, because he's going to conquer all of his enemies. You can afford to be immovable, because he's going to conquer all of his enemies. You can afford to abound in the work of the Lord because you don't have to worry about not working for the Lord, to strive after other things. He's taking care of those other things. He's conquering all of his enemies.

The last enemy is death. He's conquered and will conquer. The resurrection and glorification of Jesus has direct implications for the believer. That's why he uses it as the example. And not calling the worlds into existence.

Or not bringing the people across on dry land, or, or, or, or. It tells you what you need to know about your spiritual being now. He raises you from the dead, he makes you born again now, and he'll raise your body in the future. He'll conquer all of his enemies. Now back to Ephesians 1.

The meaning over the specific authorities in verse 21 is debated. Look again in verse 21. Far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. So are those spiritual authorities or earthly authorities? Are those evil authorities or good authorities or both or all?

Don't get bogged down in that. The point that Paul is making is that Christ is over all authorities for all time. There's not an authority that he's not over. There's not a time period when he's not over them. In this age and also in the age to come.

That means that nothing can thwart his purposes. Listen to Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. There is but one conclusion to draw from this. Whatever may be true of our experience, whatever may be true of the world and its darkness, whatever may be true of the seeds of decay and of illness and of death that are in our bodies, And how so ever great is the power of the last enemy, we can be certain and confident of this that nothing can prevent the carrying out of God's purpose with respect to us.

There is no power that can withstand Him. There is no might or influence that can match him. There is no possible antagonist that can equal him. The mightiest foes, the devil, death and hell have already been vanquished and the resurrection of Christ is the proof of it. All of his purposes towards you will be fulfilled.

That's why I read Lloyd-Jones. Now you know. Paul prays that the Holy Spirit would flood the minds of believers with clarity and truth about the immense active, resurrecting, and glorifying power which is at work in believers. This could be true of you, but you can lose sight of it. By not nurturing your knowledge of God you lose sight of this.

So you should have the comforts and encouragement of it, but you lose it. Brothers and sisters, let me summarize. To know God is to know the hope of His calling. To know God is to know the riches of His inheritance. And To know God is to know the hope of His calling.

To know God is to know the riches of His inheritance. And to know God is to know His great resurrection power working in you. Applications, I'll give you three. Number one, the fact that Paul prays for this means that the potential exists to have more of these things or less and we can expect to acquire more by seeking them through prayer. The fact that Paul prays for this, Why is Paul praying for this?

Well, it means something. It tells us something that he is praying for. It tells us that the potential exists to have more of these things or less of them. Otherwise, why ask? And that we can expect to acquire more by seeking them through prayer.

If Paul didn't believe that he wouldn't be praying for that. It is true of us to a greater or lesser extent that we don't have because we don't ask. This should inform you in your prayers. I don't have enough of this in my life. Yeah, I don't either and it's occurring to me that I haven't been asking for it either.

Oh God, let me know you so that these things would be in my thoughts. The Holy Spirit would be flooding my mind with these truths. Number two. Understand that these are the fruits of the Holy Spirit enabling you to know God. What is the power of God working in you.

Hebrews 6, let me read 17-20. You'll see immediately by the terms that are used by the author of Hebrews, whoever that is, that They're talking about the same subject because of the words being used. Hebrews 6, 17-20. Thus, God, determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise, the immutability of his counsel, the unchangeableness of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things or unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

These are intended to be strong consolation and anchor of the soul, but the promises can only be counted as sure to those who know God. It's not as simple as just memorizing a verse in Ephesians 1. If you know God, you'll have it flooding your thoughts. If the spirit of wisdom and revelation gives you the wisdom and revelation to know God, your mind will be enlightened. That's what Paul is saying in his prayer.

The promises can only be counted as sure to those who know God. It only matters if God promises things to you if you believe that He doesn't change and that He'll do it. Number three. Three is in the form of a question. What would it be like to have our minds flooded with these thoughts?

What would it be like to have our minds flooded with these thoughts? One, I've been called by God and that means that God is going to conform me to the image of the Son. I'm a little discouraged about my sanctification, but I know that if I'm called by God, that His intent in doing that was to undertake my conformity to the image of Jesus. That if He called me, it means that before he ever called me he predestined me, that he has justified me and that he will glorify me. In fact it's spoken of in Romans 8 as if it's already happened.

It's such a sure thing that it's spoken of as if my glorification has already happened. Because all of the promises are yes and amen in Jesus. The blood has been shed, the work has been done, I will be glorified. Two, there is an inheritance that belongs to the saints and I'm a saint and this inheritance dwarfs any and all of my sufferings. So I have a right to go up on Mount Nebo and look across into the promised land and see the glories that will await for my comfort and encouragement.

Three, that God's resurrection power is at work in me. The tomb is empty and the same power that emptied out that tomb is at work in me whether I see it or not whether I feel it or not. God has undertaken to deploy his power for believers. I'm a believer so I'm an object of that. What would it be like to have our minds flooded with these thoughts?

From a quote last week, Matthew Henry, Fetch it in by prayer. That's what Matthew Henry said, something I quoted last week. Fetch it in by prayer. Yes, these things have been secured for us by Christ, and they're in his hands, but God has appointed us to fetch it in by prayer, to lay hold of it by prayer. For your brethren.

The primary application isn't pray for these things for yourself. The primary application is pray for this for your brethren. That's what Paul is doing. It's an appropriate secondary application to say I can pray for these things for myself too, and you should Don't forget to start where Paul is starting here Which is he's praying for the Ephesians that these things would be true that their minds would be flooded with these thoughts. The Holy Spirit would be doing that.

Pray for your brethren. Take our text, just four short verses, and just pray over your brethren that God would enlighten their minds, their understanding. Have you ever seen one of the many movies where the character learns at the very end that he or she is an heir of a great fortune. There's a bunch of movies out there like that. All movie long, they go through the movie as a pauper.

Struggling, struggling. At the end you find out they're actually the heir of a great fortune. They never knew it. And you end up thinking, things should have been so different. God doesn't want that for any of His children.

It need not be so for any of his children. That they go without the help of knowing that their heirs do a great fortune. That all of their sufferings are really dwarfed by what is just around the bend. This life is fleeting. And you can press on through difficulties when you know that an eternity of rest and glory awaits.

God, thank you for the book of Ephesians and this chapter in the book of Ephesians. I feel like We come to a feast every week. There's things that should make us so happy, should be such a comfort to us, should help sustain us and encourage us. Oh God, Let us know you. Let the spirit of wisdom and revelation enable us to know you more and more so that our minds would be enlightened, would be flooded with clarity and truth that help us.

Pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.