Better Read Your Bank Book

We read from the Word of God in Ephesians chapter 1, Paul's prayer for the Ephesian believers, beginning at verse 15 and concluding with verse 23. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto 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 and what 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 wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own 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 hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.

And may this fullness be our experience as we grow in our knowledge of Christ. I wonder how many of us would want our prayers written down for other people to read. When the Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesian Christians, the Holy Spirit of God not only inspired the prayer, but led him to write it down as a part of this letter. I think there are some prayers that you and I would be embarrassed to have written down for other people to read.

In this letter, Paul prays for the Ephesian Christians twice. Here in chapter 1, it's a prayer for enlightenment. Verse 18, The eyes of your heart being enlightened. Then over in chapter 3, verses 13 through 21, it's a prayer for enablement. He prays in chapter 1 that they might know, and he prays in chapter 3 that they might be. And the two, of course, go together. Far too often, we Christians are guilty of learning without living. We're guilty of growing in knowledge, but not growing in grace. So Paul prays both prayers. He asks that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ might give to us the Holy Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of our hearts being enlightened that we might know. And then after teaching a little more of the word of God in chapter 2, he prays that the Lord might enable us to take what we have learned and put it into practice.

You see, the teaching of the word of God and the praying for God's people go together. Paul realized that you don't just teach the word of God. You teach the word of God, and then you pray that the word of God will get through to people's hearts. Peter said over in Acts chapter 6, We will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word, and they go together. You minister the word of God, then you pray that the word of God will do its work in the lives of people.

I suppose there are prayers that we would not want to have written down, but something else is also involved. I wonder if you and I really want to hear what people are praying about us. Suppose that you, well, children or young people, could overhear what mother and father are praying about in your life. I wonder if I, as a pastor, would be embarrassed if I heard some church member praying for me, and he didn't know I was listening. I'm sure there have been times when folks have prayed, Oh God, help our pastor to be more patient and help him to be more understanding. Suppose a husband overheard his wife praying for him, or a wife overheard her husband. You see, one of the best ways to find out what you need is to listen to the way people are praying for you.

I recall in my former pastorate, a dear lady got up in a prayer meeting and began to give to us a tale of woe. It seemed like everything was going wrong in her home and in her life. And at the close of the prayer meeting, as she was leaving the chapel, one of our fine men went up to her and said, You know, I'm going to pray for you. And she said, For what? Well, she was offended. He would even say that he was going to pray for her.

Now, when I read this prayer, I read that Paul is praying for me. Paul is not just praying for the saints in Ephesus. He's praying for the saints in Chicago or wherever else you may find them. And as I read this prayer, I notice that Paul has four requests in this prayer. And these four requests reveal to me four basic needs in my life.

He prays, first of all, that we might come to know God. Paul is saying here we need to know God. Notice, please. That's how you get saved. Faith in the Lord Jesus. And love unto all the saints. That's how you prove you're saved. By love to God's people. Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit. And that should be a capital S, I think. The Holy Spirit. Now, he already gave them the Holy Spirit when they were saved back in verse 13. They were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. But he's saying, I want something more to happen. I want you not just simply to have the Holy Spirit resident in your life, but I want the Holy Spirit to do something for you. That he might become in your life the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, in the knowledge of God. Here is my first need, and here is my greatest need. I need to know God. Now, I would dare say that this is probably the greatest need of each person here at the Moody Church today.

You say, Pastor, my greatest need is to get through surgery this next week. If you know God, you don't have to worry about surgery. You say, my greatest need is to find employment. That is a great need, but if you know God, he can take care of employment. Oh, you say, my greatest need is to get victory over my temper. I've just got such a vicious temper. No, your greatest need is to know God. The knowledge of God is the greatest knowledge in all the world. That's where salvation begins.

Jesus defines salvation for us in John chapter 17 and verse 3 when he says, And this is life eternal. What is life eternal? That they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now, there's someone listening to me right now who does not know God. And I say to you, the very first step, the very first step is to come to Jesus Christ. Jesus says, He that has seen me has seen the Father. How do we get to know God? Through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals the Son, and the Son reveals the Father. And the very, very first thing you have to do is get saved. You see, Satan has blinded the minds of people who aren't saved. He uses different kinds of blindfolds. One person is wearing a religious blindfold. All they can see is their religion. Somebody else is wearing a scientific blindfold. He says, Pastor, where is he? You know, I'm intelligent, and I have a rather high IQ. And consequently, I look at all things scientifically, and I haven't seen God out there yet.

Do you recall when the Russians sent one of their cosmonauts up, and when he came back, he said he looked all around and didn't find God? Remember that? And someone over here in the States remarked, if he had stepped outside of his capsule, he would have found him. Billy Sunday used to say that an atheist can't find God for the same reason a criminal can't find a policeman. He's not looking. That's our greatest need. I need to know God. That's the beginning of salvation.

Now, the word that he uses here for knowledge, that you may, in the wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of him, doesn't mean head knowledge. Paul is not praying, oh, that they all might read strong, systematic theology and be able to give the attributes of God and explain the decrees of God. These things are wonderful. I read strong, systematic theology from cover to cover and underlined many parts of it. The word he's using here is not a head knowledge. It is a deep experience knowledge. He's saying that you may know by experience.

It's the same idea that you have in the Old Testament when the scriptures talk about the relationship of a husband and a wife and Adam knew his wife Eve. It's talking about a deep, intimate, personal relationship with God. And that's where it all begins, by trusting Jesus Christ. But now, a knowledge of God is important not only for salvation, but a knowledge of God is important just for everyday living.

For example, how do you know what's going on in the world if you don't know God? I feel so sorry for these people who are just drifting from day to day, who don't know God. They've not read the Bible. They have no idea what God is like or what God is doing or what they're supposed to do. You see, I was made in the image of God. If I don't know my maker, I don't know myself. And because we have taken God and not only shoved him off to one side, but pushed him right out of the arena, we don't know ourselves. Our psychologists are talking about an identity crisis. Bless your heart. The identity crisis is basically a crisis of not knowing God. We were made in the image of God. We were made to bring glory to God. We were made to do the will of God. If you don't know God, you don't know who you are or where you came from or where you're going or why you're here. If that doesn't make a person frustrated, nothing will.

I think it was Mark Twain who used to tell the story about the dog that was in the crate by the railroad station. And he was sitting in the bottom of the crate, howling and yelping like only a dog can. And someone said to the agent, what in the world is wrong with that dog? Well, he said, I don't know where he came from. I don't know where he's going. I don't know whose he is. He chewed up his tag. Now, men are this way. You can go to any campus in Cook County and you'll find people who don't know who they are or where they came from or where they're going because they don't know God. They chewed up their tag. Our greatest knowledge is our knowledge of God.

Now, why are there so many false ideas about God? It's amazing what people think about God. A.W. Tozer said a wonderful thing one day. He said this, The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of him. Let me repeat that. A.W. Tozer said, The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of him.

I was reading in Psalm 50 just the other day where the psalmist really puts the finger on why we have such weird ideas about God. Psalm 50. Oh, I'll begin at verse 16. Unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes? Or that thou shouldst take my covenant in thy mouth, seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind thee? When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentest with him and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou gavest thy mouth to evil, thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother, thou slanderest thine own mother's son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence, says God. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself. But I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes.

You know what God's saying here? I made man in my image, and man has rejected me. Now man is making God in his image. People say to me, well, pastor, you know, I love my children. I couldn't send them to hell. Is God any less loving than I am? They've missed the point completely. God never said, you pattern God after what you think. God says, I am God, and I see what you're doing, and you think I work the way you work. You steal something, and you got away with it. I got away with it, God. You break the word of God, got away with it, God. He said, you didn't get away with anything. You think I'm like a crooked politician who takes a bribe. You're making God after your own image. You think I'm like you. He said, I'm not like you. Paul's prayer here is so important. We need to know God.

Now, how do we get to know God? What begins with Jesus Christ? Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, he that has seen me has seen the Father, and your love to all the saints. In verse 17, he says, the Holy Spirit of God, through the word of God, reveals the Son of God, who shows to us the Father. What I'm saying is this. The knowledge of God doesn't come at the end of an argument. It doesn't come at the end of a debate. The knowledge of God comes in our hearts when we submit to the Holy Spirit. He says in verse 18, the eyes of your heart. That word translated understanding is the word heart. The eyes of your heart being enlightened. Someone here today, the eyes of your heart are blind, and they always will be blind, until you bow before Jesus Christ and say, my Lord and my God, save me. And then you'll start on that marvelous adventure of getting to know God deeper and deeper and better and better. Paul doesn't say, I pray that you might understand your Bibles better. That's important. Paul is saying, I pray that you might come to know God better. That's my first need. I need to know God. Now, there's a second need here that Paul discusses. In verse 18, Paul says, we need to know God's calling. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling.

Now, he spent all of the first verses talking about this calling. You see, in the word of God, we have two different callings. There seems to be a general calling. There seems to be in nature and in conscience God calling to men.

I read an interesting book this weekend. It was a very sobering book. It was written by a lady who lost her husband. It's the story of the experience she had with her husband. Shortly after they discovered that he had cancer and was going to die. And it chronicles for us about four or five months in their lives between his discovery of his disease and his death. It was a very sobering book. Very beautifully written. Very poetic. But as you turn the pages of this book and read, something is missing. Something is missing. And that something is God. In fact, she goes out of her way to say, now both my husband and I, being educated people, are agnostics. But every once in a while, she drops in a little phrase like, if we had been religious, this would have been a good place for us to turn to God. It seems as though all through the book, and I felt so sorry for the dear woman, all through the book, she grits her teeth and keeps a stiff upper lip and tries to keep her shoulders very straight. And as much as a person can without divine help, does very courageously. But all through the book, I hear a little voice saying, I wish I knew him. I wish I knew him. I wish I knew him. You see, she'd never responded to the calling.

In the heart of men, there is something. God has put eternity in men's hearts. And when God made man in his image, he made man so that man is not truly at peace with himself or anybody else or the world until he knows God. Therefore, there's a special calling. He talks about this over here. He says, The word of God came to you, verse 13, In whom ye also trusted after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. One day, God's call came to the people in Ephesus, and God called them through the gospel. And they believed, and they were saved. Now, says Paul, I want you to know the hope of his calling. You see, my friends, when God calls you, it means hope. God called Abraham. And when God called Abraham, he said, Abraham, I've got a whole life planned for you. It means hope. God called David. He said, David, I've got a future planned for you. In my calling, there is hope.

I was restudying this past week Robert Kennedy's book on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Perhaps some of you saw the program on television that dealt with this. Thirteen interesting days in the history of Russian-American relations. And I reviewed once again and remembered once again the staff of people that Mr. Kennedy had chosen. He'd called them. And I thought to myself, they're scattered today. It's a tragedy what happened. Apart from what your politics may be, it's a tragedy what happened. But that whole staff that was called is scattered today. You see, when a man calls you to follow him, there's no hope in that calling. He can only take you as far as the grave.

Now, Paul says to these Ephesians and to you and me, look, you're worried about the future. The economic situation is not too steady. You're worried about the future. You have to have surgery. You're worried about the future. There's some great challenge that you're facing. You're worried about the future. He says, don't worry about the future. I want you to know the hope of his calling. When God calls you, he calls you into hope. There's always something better. The best is yet to come. They said to Jesus, thou hast saved the best wine until now. And in the Christian life, the best is always yet to come. We have the hope of his calling.

Now, let me speak again to you who don't know Christ. You have no hope. I don't care what your bank account may be like. I don't care what your credentials may be. You have no hope. Some man calls you. There's no hope to a man's calling. Some religion calls you. There's no hope to a man's religion. But when Jesus Christ calls you and you hear the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and you respond by faith to that call, then, my friend, you have hope. It's tragic that we Christians live and act and talk as though we're walking on a one-way street heading to a blank wall that leads to oblivion. When Fred Allen wrote his autobiography, he called it treadmill to oblivion. That's a good description of many people. They're just on a treadmill to where? And Paul says to you and me as Christians, I'm praying for you. I see you're discouraged. I see you're ready to quit. I'm praying for you that you might know the hope of his calling. We need to know how marvelous is this calling that we have in Christ. I don't know what kind of future you have, but let me talk to you about the future we Christians have. We Christians are looking forward to seeing Jesus Christ. That's the hope of our calling. For our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus, who shall change these bodies of humiliation to be fashioned like unto his glorious body. Beloved, now are we the sons of God? It doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Jesus looked into the faces of a group of men one night, and they were absolutely beat. One of them had turned out to be a traitor. One of them was going to betray him, and all of them were going to run away. And Jesus looked into the faces of these defeated people and said, Let not your heart be troubled. I go to prepare a place for you. You're going to lose some of the battles, but you're going to win the war. The waves keep storming on the shores just a block away over here on Lake Michigan. As I drive by, I see these waves beating on the shore. And those waves seem to be accomplishing so very little. Then the tide comes in. The waves may lose the battle, but the tide is going to come in and win the battle. And so it is with the Christian. We lose a few. We lose a few battles. We've been knocked down. We've been confused and perplexed. We've sometimes lifted our eyes to heaven and said, God, why? Paul says, I want you to know something. When God called you, he gave you hope. Don't give up. I need to know God. I need to know God's calling and the hope that's involved in it.

There's a third need that we have. We need to know God's riches. Verse 18. And what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. That's what Ephesians is all about. Ephesians is saying to you, don't wait for your uncle to die and leave you something. He may be like the man who wrote in his will, I, being of sound mind and body, spent it all. Paul is saying, you have an inheritance. Jesus wrote your name into his will. And then he died that the will might be enforced. And then he arose again and went to heaven that he might be the lawyer to probate the will. And you are a part of his inheritance and you share in his inheritance.

In fact, it is so marvelous that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, which means he can't inherit anything till we're there. And the whole theme of Ephesians is, oh, how rich we are, how rich we are. As I have been studying Ephesians, I have been reminded of the story about the little orphan boy who was picked up on the streets of New York City and taken to the hospital. And they washed him up and dressed him up. And he was so emaciated and so undernourished. And they brought him a tray of food. And in the middle of the tray was a great big tall glass of milk. And the boy looked at the nurse and said, can I have all of it? He came from a home where you didn't get a whole glass of milk. Can I have all of it? And I read Ephesians and I read about the riches of his grace. And I say, God, can I have all of it? He says, yes. And I read about the riches of his glory. My God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory. Can I have all of it? Yes. I read here about the riches of his mercy. In fact, Paul gets so carried away, he says, I want to talk to you about the unsearchable riches.

J. Paul Getty thinks he's rich. Let's see how rich we are in Jesus Christ. And we have the kind of riches that Wall Street cannot affect. We have the kind of riches that know nothing of inflation, deflation, recession. We have the kind of riches where the price tags are never changed. Our riches last forever. You see, we don't have to die to enjoy the riches of God's grace. Jesus died to do that. We don't have to go to heaven to enjoy the riches of God's glory.

Mr. Spurgeon used to say, little faith will bring you to heaven. Great faith will bring heaven to you. And I think somebody here today who looks in the mirror and says, you know, you don't have very much. Needs to look into God's bank book and say, I need to know how rich I am in Jesus Christ. The riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. You see, this Bible is your bank book. It's about time some of you started reading your bank book and finding out what you've got. Some of the things you've been praying for you already have. They've already been given to you in Jesus Christ. Stop praying for them. Just reach out and take them.

There's a fourth need that we have. We need to know God. We need to know God's calling and the hope that's there in it. We need to know God's riches. And we need to know God's power. Paul spends verses 19 through 23 talking about this power and he almost runs out of words. He uses four different Greek words for power. He just piles one word on top of another. He says, I want you to know. The exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe according to the working of his mighty power. In one verse, four different words for power. Not just inert power like power in my fist, but active power, moving power. Of course, the great word for power in the Greek New Testament is the word dunamis, dynamite. Paul says, I want you to know God's power. You see, I don't have to worry about myself if I know God. I don't have to worry about the future if I know the hope of his calling. I don't have to worry about my circumstances. I have all of his riches available to me. I don't have to worry about the demands of life and the challenges I'm facing and you're facing if I have God's power. All around us, people are quitting and people are fainting and people are giving up. Paul says you don't have to do that. He talks not just about power, but the greatness of his power. Not just the greatness of his power, but the exceeding greatness of his power.

He says if you want to know how much power is available to you, go to the empty tomb. Now, friends, this so excites me, I could just take right off. The very power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead can operate in your life when you sit at that typewriter. The very power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead can operate in your life when you're studying those textbooks or driving that truck or answering that telephone or taking care of those noisy children. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us through the Holy Spirit. And Paul is praying for us, oh, that those people at the Moody Church might know the exceeding greatness of God's power. Power that brings life out of death.

You say, Pastor, I'm facing a situation that's impossible. Is it more impossible than resurrection from the dead? Power that brings victory out of defeat. Power that brings liberty where there was bondage. This is what he's talking about. And we Christians wobble around like so many marionettes whose strings have been cut. When we ought to be standing tall and straight with our feet planted solidly on the promises of God and saying all of the power of God is available to me today. I can go through that surgery. I can hang on and not quit. We have family problems, but I don't have to run away. I can face them and we can see God work. That's what this is all about. The trouble is, this power is available to those who believe. Sin has power, power to destroy. Sin has power, power to deceive. Sin has power, power to kill. Jesus Christ has power, power to raise you from the dead. Power so to work in your mind and your heart and your will that you can do the will of God. And you say, I'm so weak, everybody is. Paul was. And Paul learned to say, when I'm weak, I'm strong because God's power is at work in my life. This is not pseudo-psychology. This is not self-hypnosis. This is a spiritual experience of the power of God in the lives of those who will believe. And so you face an impossible situation. And you say, I believe. God, you can see me through. And I put myself at your disposal to work in and through me. And he does it. You see, we don't pray like this. We pray about our headaches and our corns. And we pray about our flat tires and the ruts in the road. And we pray about the TVs. We don't pray like this. Our spiritual appetites are so jaded. Our appetites are so low. We're chewing on dog food and we ought to be eating beefsteak. And we wonder why we're so wobbly and we have no testimony and no joy and no glory. Paul says, if you really want to move into the heights of Christian living, here's the way you pray. Here are your four needs. You need to know God. You need to know God's calling and the hope that's involved in it. You need to know God's riches and how much is available to you right now. You need to know God's power. Power to overcome every foe.

I tell you, somebody could put verses 22 and 23 to music. We'd be ready for the rapture. He hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, believers, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. You and I, as a part of the body of Christ, are experiencing the fullness. Then why are we so empty? The greatness. Then why are we so weak? The richness. Then why are we so poor? Because we don't really pray that the Holy Spirit of God will enable us to lay hold of what God has already given us. And we sit there and we say, can I drink it all? And God says, you can drink it all. And there's more where that came from because I want you to experience my fullness.

Now, if other Christians want to be midgets, small thinking, small talking, let them do it. Be a giant. Be one of God's great ones. Oh, but you say, I don't have any talent. God's not asking for talent. He's asking for available people. God is saying to you, oh, I want you to know me. And as you get to know me, you'll know the hope of your calling. And you'll know the riches of your inheritance. And you'll know the greatness of my power. And you will be living far above all. And we'll never have to say to someone, well, I'm pretty good under the circumstances. Far above all. They that wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings as eagles, seated with Christ in the heavenlies.

I need to know more of this, and you need to know more of this. It would be good for us to spend some time today praying this prayer and make it personal. Oh, God, give to me the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of God. Oh, God, help me to know what is the hope of your calling. And help me to know what are the riches of the glory of your inheritance in the saints. And help me to know the greatness of your power. What a difference it would make. And to you who don't know the Savior, oh, how much you're missing. How much you're missing. You don't know God. You have no hope. You have no riches. You have no power. Oh, how much you're missing. Would you come today and trust him? Give your heart to him.

Thank you, Father, that you are perfectly adequate for all of the experiences of our lives. We aren't. We think we are, but we aren't. I pray, Father, you'll first of all forgive us for dwelling in the shallow water when we should have launched out into the deep a long time ago. Forgive us, oh God, for being midgets when we should have been giants through Christ. I pray in Jesus' name, so put within our hearts this desire to lay hold of all that we have in Christ that we'll not be satisfied. until we experience your fullness in the everyday things of life where it's needed the most. we ask in Jesus' name, amen.