| By: Dr. Wayne Barber; ©1999 |
| Dr. Barber continues his series on Ephesians. This week he looks at Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian believers: that they will come to a deeper understand of some things God has in store for them. |
A Prayer for Deeper Understanding - Part 2
Will you turn with me again back to Ephesians chapter 1? We’re going to be looking at verse 18 as Paul is praying for the Ephesian believers. I had a teacher tell me one time that the thing that they loved when they were teaching was when they saw in their students that look of “Ah Ha! That’s it!” I know I had several teachers that probably were very disappointed with me being their student, especially in Algebra II. One day in class it just turned on. Isn’t that amazing? I knew all the facts and could tell about them, but for some reason they had not sunk in. They had not fallen down in there in that seed of understanding within me. I had the knowledge of it, but not the understanding of that knowledge. One day the “Ah Ha” took place. Teachers love to see that. The apostle Paul, being the teacher that he was, is praying for that “Ah Ha” to take place in those Ephesian believers. He has just told them about their salvation. “You know these things. You’ve read these things. I wonder if it’s fallen yet into that seed of understanding in your life and into your heart,” Paul says. Well, he’s praying for them. He says, “I don’t cease making mention of you in my prayers” in verse 16. Then he tells them how he prays. He says, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” He prays that God would just turn on that “Ah Ha.” He can help you to see it, really see it. Once you have understood truth, that motivates you in all that you do in life. If you just know it but don’t understand it, that may hurt you in your walk. God does that in His own way and in His own time. In verse 18 it really says the same thing. He says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.” Now remember the heart there was not like it is in some cultures. The heart is the seat of emotions in some cultures, but in the Greek culture it was not. In the Greek culture the seat of emotions would be the intestines. If you’re bothered in those areas, you’re certainly emotionally affected. That was their seat of emotion. The heart was the seat of understanding. So he’s praying here that your eyes might be enlightened, your spiritual eyes might be turned on. Photizo, to give light to, to shine light upon. Paul is still praying for a deeper spiritual understanding, that “Ah Ha. That’s what you’re telling me, Lord. I see it.” In light of that knowledge of Him, we can go on in our walk. There are three specific concerns that Paul has in verses 18 and 19. We’re only going to look at two of them now in verse 18. Paul feels like if they can understand these things, it will motivate their walk. They will do wonders in their living for the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 18 says, “ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling.” Now one thing we need to understand about the hope of His calling is that when you see the word “hope” associated with God and His children, His believers, it is never, ever like the hope that is in this world. In this world when we say the word “hope” we mean something that we wish for but is highly uncertain. Never in Scripture do you find that word “hope,” associated with what God has promised and what God is doing, as meaning uncertainty. Oh no! It’s always certain. As a matter of fact, the deepest level of assuring somebody of something is when you refer to their hope. Paul is saying, “I’m praying that you will have a deep understanding and an assurance of the hope of His calling.” Now that word “calling” is the word klesis. It comes from the word meaning to call. One of the ways it was used is to refer to an invitation to come to something special. I like that. You send it out. You want them to be there for something. It’s a special, special bidding, a special calling that is being given. Here it is God’s invitation to man to accept the benefits of His salvation, “the hope of His calling.” “The hope of His calling” involves several things. What is involved in the calling of the Christian? If God has spoken in your heart, and you’ve responded to that, then it involves everything God has in store for you. Go back to verses 3 through 14. Paul is simply saying, “I just told you about your calling. I just told you about what God has done for you. Now I want you to understand it deeply, deeply in your heart. It involves not only the joy of being blessed with every spiritual blessing. It involves not only the joy of being chosen by Christ before the foundation of the world. It involves being redeemed by His blood. It involves being adopted as His Son. It involves being sealed in Him with His Spirit, but it also involves the hope of His returning, and everything that is to come after He returns for His church.” That is the full payment of which we have the earnest right now. So Paul is saying, “I want you to understand the hope, the assurance of your calling. Your calling involves everything that God has done, is doing, and wants to do one day regarding your salvation.” Now you say, “I don’t know when I was called or when was I invited.” Oh, the invitation was sent years ago. It’s found in John 3:16. Will you say it with me? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” You got an invitation a long time ago. God has initiated a calling. You may not have responded to it yet, but when you respond to it, and you receive what God has said, then everything that calling involves you need to understand spiritually. Where else is that calling found in Scripture? Look over with me in Romans 11. Here he’s talking about the Jewish people. This is in that very difficult passage where I believe he’s really talking about a demonstration of His power, not so much His election. In Romans 11:23, as he is referring to the Jews, he sort of gets on the Gentile’s case here. He says, don’t be arrogant, folks. Don’t think God’s written off Israel. He has not. In light of that he says in verse 29, “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” You don’t repent of that. In other words, there will be no changing of God’s mind. God called them, and He’s honoring that call. As a nation they have not yet responded, but one day they will. Many of the remnant of Israel have responded, but the calling of God is irrevocable. That’s one thing to remember. God doesn’t take back what He sends out. He’s given you an invitation. If you’ve responded, that response and that calling is irrevocable. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 it speaks of their calling. I don’t want to get into the full context of this, but there’s something that caught my attention here. Many times we think God is selective to people that are more intelligent or more worthy than we think we are. Thank God He doesn’t look at it that way. He’s not a respecter of persons. Beginning in verse 26 he says, “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God.” In this calling God is not moved by the status of men. I was thinking about the way man goes after learning about God. He does his research, stacks up all his information, comes to his conclusions, but he never can find what he’s looking for. I’m grateful for that because if God would have only come to those who were intellectually capable, I would have been left out a long time ago. You know, a lot of third world countries and people that are illiterate would have too. We would have to say, “Don’t bother to take the gospel to them because God favors the academic and those that are strong and those that are intelligent.” Oh no! The people who respond usually are the ones who are willing to admit that they’re poor. They’re poor in spirit. He chose the weak things. He’s not selective in His calling according to the status of men. Look in Ephesians 4:1. I think it’s found three times in Ephesians. We’ll just look at this other one. Your calling, what does it involve? Paul says in verse 1, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you’ve been called.” Now, what does that tell us? That tells us there’s a responsibility if you’ve responded to God’s invitation. If you’ve responded to His call then there is a worthy walk that He’s looking for you to live. Your response begins something. It doesn’t end something. The walk begins at the time you respond to His invitation. Look at 2 Thessalonians 1:11. Who is it that determines whether our walk is worthy? I’m grateful that it’s not you and me. “To this end also we pray for you always that our God may count you worthy of your calling and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power.” Who is it that makes us worthy? Who is it that determines that walk? It’s the Lord Himself. That’s another act of His grace. In 2 Timothy 1:9 we find that calling. He tells us it’s a holy calling. Let’s look at verse 8 to catch the whole sentence. “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.” So it’s a holy calling not based on man’s works, but based on God’s grace. Isn’t that a precious thought? Hebrews 3:1 tells us it’s not only a holy calling, but it’s a heavenly calling. “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.” There’s one more place in 2 Peter 1:10. He says that this calling can be made certain. In other words, you can know that it’s there. This is where a lot of people trip up. The way that you know that it’s there is by God letting you know in His own way. Romans says His Spirit will bear witness with your spirit that you’re a child of God. So often we make ourselves think that we’ve got to understand every little facet of it. Oh no! As a matter of fact, the older I get the more I’m wondering how much of it I do understand. One of the ways that He bears witness in your life that He is there and makes you certain of your calling is the chastisement He brings and the conviction that He brings when you sin. One of the best ways of knowing that you’re God’s child is that, when you sin, God won’t let you get away with it. 2 Peter 1:10 says, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.” So Paul sees that one of the things they need to fully understand and to deeply realize is the hope of their calling. He had just told them what their calling involved. Now they need to understand the hope of their calling. It is all wrapped up in the destiny and the glory of the believer that is coming in the upcoming kingdom. We need a deeper understanding of our calling. You know, we try to remind one another quite frequently, not only in the preaching of the Word, but by having the Lord’s Supper. What is that? It’s a reminder of when we received the invitation of the Lord one day and entered into that covenant with Him. It’s a reminder of who we are. Do you realize folks, when you walk outside the church walls, in a sense you lose your identity? You don’t lose it, but you feel like you do. You’re on your own. You’ve got to be reminded all the time, “Wait a minute. I’m not my own. I’m bought with a price. I’m God’s property. I’ve got a calling. I responded to His invitation, and I know God’s doing a work in my life. He chose me, blessed me, adopted me, redeemed me, all these things He’s done, and I can’t live out in this world like I want to live. This calling involves a walk. I’ve got to walk worthy of this calling.” That’s what it’s all about. We try the best we can to remind each other and encourage one another, but Paul says he wants them to come to a deeper understanding of the hope of their calling. We voice this hope in a hymn we sing all the time. It’s one of my favorite hymns, and I’m certain it’s one of your favorites.- My hope is built on nothing less
- Than Jesus blood and righteousness;
- I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
- But wholly lean on Jesus name.
- When darkness veils His lovely face,
- I rest on His unchanging grace;
- In every high and stormy gale,
- My anchor holds within the veil.
- His oath, His covenant, and His blood
- Support me in the whelming flood;
- When all around by soul gives way,
- He then is all my hope and stay.
- On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
- All other ground is sinking sand,
- All other ground is sinking sand.
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