Enlightenment - Ephesians 1:15-23

Please open your Bible to Ephesians 1, beginning with Ephesians 1:15. Our study of this wonderful letter has taken us now to Paul's first prayer for the people at Ephesus.

Now we mentioned before in an earlier lesson that there are two prayers in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. In Ephesians 1:15-23, we have his prayer for enlightenment. You notice in Ephesians 1:18, he prays that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.

Now he has already given to us our possessions in Christ. In Ephesians 1:1-14, we have our wonderful possessions in Christ, in God the Father, and in God the Son, and in God the Holy Spirit. Now he pauses to pray that our eyes might be open, that we might know what we really have as Christians.

And so here in Ephesians 1, we have Paul's prayer for enlightenment. In Ephesians 3, we're going to see that Paul has a prayer for enablement. If you'll look, please, at Ephesians 3. The Apostle Paul prays from Ephesians 3:14 on that God would grant to you, Ephesians 3:16, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.

Now these two prayers summarize the two basic needs in the Christian life. We need to be enlightened, and we need to be enabled. We need seeing, we need sight, and we need strength. If you put these two prayers together, you discover that Paul is saying this: "I want you to know what you have in Christ." Oh, I want you to know how rich you are, how wealthy you are in Christ. And then having discovered how wealthy you are, I want you to live the kind of a life that parallels this wonderful wealth. I want you to live up to your high calling in Christ.

Now let's look at this first prayer, the prayer for enlightenment. In a future lesson, the Lord willing, we will examine Ephesians 3, the prayer for enablement. May I just pause long enough to say this, you cannot have enablement without enlightenment. Oh, how many Christians there are who try to live the Christian life in ignorance. Now dear friend of mine, it cannot be done. The church that gave Paul the greatest amount of burden and worry and concern was the Corinthian church. When you read Paul's letters to the Corinthians, we call them 1 and 2 Corinthians in the New Testament. When you read them, you see the sobbing, broken heart of the Apostle Paul. There was division in the church. There was drunkenness, there were lawsuits, there was sin. The reputation of the church in Corinth was terrible. It broke Paul's heart. You wonder why these people lived the way they lived. Well, when you read 1 and 2 Corinthians, you find out why, because over and over again Paul says, "What know ye not? What know ye not? I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren." Do you know why the Christians in Corinth were carnal? It's because they were ignorant of the Word of God.

Now people laugh today at churches that teach the Bible. They say, "Oh, people don't want the Bible. They want entertainment." I disagree. They want enlightenment. My experience has been that people want to know the Bible. They want someone to teach them the Bible. Wherever the Apostle Paul went, he did two things: he preached and he taught. Preaching and teaching were the mainstays of his life. He would preach the Gospel to the lost, and he would teach the Bible to the saved. Now we have a lot of preaching of the Gospel these days, and I thank God for it. But after a person has been saved, after he has been born again, he must be taught the Word of God. Paul prays, "I want you to know what the Bible says." You cannot live a powerful life apart from an understanding of the Bible.

Now the devil doesn't want you to study the Bible. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul says that Satan blinds the minds of people. He confuses people. He leads them away from the Word of God. The very first statement we have from Satan in Genesis 3 is, "Yea, hath God said?" Has God really spoken? Can you really believe what God says? Can you trust the Word of God? And Eve said, "Well, I guess we can't," and she got herself into trouble. Satan is forever questioning God's Word. He wants to keep you from studying the Bible.

Now if you are not spending time studying the Word of God, you are not much of a Christian. I don't care what kind of a profession you may have, what kind of a testimony. I don't care how busy you may be in your church, if you are not taking time to study the Word of God, you are not much of a Christian. You say, "Well, Brother Wiersbe, that's an awfully drastic statement to make." I can back it up from Scripture. When God sent Joshua into the Promised Land to conquer the enemy and claim the inheritance, in Joshua 1:8, he said to this commander, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do all that is commanded." Joshua was a victorious man because he studied the Bible. In Psalm 1 it says, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."

Now the Word of God makes it clear that God expects us to study the Bible. "Study to show thyself approved unto God," says 2 Timothy 2:15, "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." We are to study the Word of God. We are to examine the Scriptures. We are to search the Scriptures because in the Word of God we have revealed to us the will of God.

Now, in Ephesians 1:15, Paul says, "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." The two characteristics of the believers in Ephesus are given in Ephesians 1:15: faith and love. That's wonderful. One leads to the other. "Faith without works is dead," says the Book of James. Faith ought to lead to love.

Now before I was saved, I had no special love for the Bible or for church or for Christian people. I liked them. Some of them were rather pesky. They bothered me, but I rather liked them. But after I was saved, I found myself wanting to be with God's people. You know, when someone says to me, "Brother Wiersbe, I'm a Christian, but I don't believe in going to church," I don't believe he's a Christian. And if he is, he's backslidden. We are sheep, and sheep like to flock together. The Lord hasn't compared us to lions who like to live by themselves. He hasn't compared us to eagles who soar up by themselves, although he wants us to mount up like eagles. The Lord has compared us to sheep, and sheep love to flock together. And people who love the Lord love the Lord's people. Those who have their name written down on the Lamb's Book of Life, those who are born again, want to be together with other Christians. The church is a family. There's faith and there's love.

Now some people have the faith but don't have the love. My, it's too bad when Christians can't get along with each other. "A new commandment have I given unto you, that ye love one another," said the Lord Jesus. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." Not if you carry a Bible, not if you tithe. It's good to carry a Bible, it's good to tithe, but God says the one hallmark of the believer is love. He loves to be with God's people. Christians ought not to criticize one another, they ought to love one another. Just like in a family. My, in our family, we have our faults, we have our weaknesses, but we love each other and we defend each other. Faith and love. Paul said, "Having heard this, I've been praying for you. I've ceased not to pray for you." You see, when you love God's people, you pray for them. Instead of praying on them, you pray for them. Do you pray for your Christian friends?

Now I know you pray for your family. We all do this. You pray for those who are sick. But do you pray for your church? Do you ask God to bless the pastor of your church and the deacons of your church? Do you ask God to bless the Sunday school teachers? Do you pray for those who don't even love you? Prayer. Paul prayed for God's people. Now what did he pray? "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory," I like that, "the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit" – that should be a capital S, that's the Holy Spirit – "that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him."

Now get that. He doesn't ask God to give us a new revelation. I want to make that clear. When someone comes along and says, "I have a new revelation that God never gave before," you better be suspect of that man. God has revealed everything he wants us to know in his Bible. Paul is not praying that God will give them a vision or give them a new revelation. He prays that the Holy Spirit of revelation and wisdom will teach them from the Bible, from the Word of God. You see, the Bible is God's revelation. All that we know about God is in the Bible. Now you may go out to the golf course to learn about God. I've met people like this. They say, "Well, preacher, I don't have to go to church, I don't have to be in Sunday school to study the Bible. I learn about God out in nature." I doubt that. Nature does teach us some things about God, but my Bible tells me if I want to know God, I have to know Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." And if I want to know about Jesus Christ, I have to go to the Bible, because the Bible is the book about the Lord Jesus. Paul prays, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give unto you the Holy Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, of Jesus." The more you know about Jesus Christ, the more you'll know about the Bible. The more you know about Jesus Christ, the more you'll know about God. The more we know about Jesus Christ, the more we know about what God wants for us. We must come to know more about Jesus Christ. This is why Peter prays in his last letter, the final words, "but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Peter didn't say study about me, he said study about Jesus. In Philippians 3:10, Paul says, "that I may know him." Know whom? Know Jesus Christ. "That I may know him and the power of his resurrection." We need to know more about Christ.

May I ask you this question: Do you know more about Jesus Christ today than you did a year ago? A month ago? A week ago? Are you walking with him and fellowshipping with him through the Word of God? Is the Holy Spirit of God teaching you about Christ? Now this is why the Holy Spirit was given. We saw in our last lesson that the Spirit of God was given to be our seal and to be the earnest of our inheritance. But he's also our teacher. In John 16:13, God the Son says this, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come" – you recall Ephesians 1:13 called the Bible the word of truth, now the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth – "when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak from himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you." Why was the Holy Spirit given? To glorify Christ. How does he glorify Christ? By teaching Christians through the Word. The Spirit of God is our teacher. Do you allow the Holy Spirit to teach you from the Word?

Now some Christians have sin in their lives, they have disobedience. They've disobeyed the teacher, and the teacher can't teach them anything. Obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge. A disobedient Christian learns nothing from the Word of God. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. The spirit of God cannot teach a disobedient Christian. All he can do is spank him. If we grieve the Holy Spirit, he can't teach us. If we disobey the Holy Spirit, he won't teach us. The spirit of God teaches the child of God about the Son of God through the Word of God.

Now I've heard all kinds of people who say, "Oh, I don't have to go to church, I don't have to hear the Bible." That's a lot of foolishness. That's an excuse. You might just well come right out and tell the truth, you don't want to go to church. You don't want to study the Bible. Mark Twain once said, "It's not what I don't understand about the Bible that bothers me, but what I do understand." How much truth there is to that. The Spirit of truth teaches us the Word of truth.

Now what does Paul want them to know? Here it is, Ephesians 1:18: "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened." Now the word "understanding" is the word "heart," H-E-A-R-T. The eyes of your heart being enlightened. You see, the inner man has organs just like the outer man. The inner man has eyes, the eyes of your heart. The inner man has ears, "Let him that hath ears to hear, let him hear." The inner man has taste, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good." The inner man has spiritual organs, spiritual discernment. Now far too many Christians have the eyes of their hearts closed. Their hearts are not right with God. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee." When the Lord Jesus walked on the road to Emmaus with those two disciples, they said, "Did not our heart burn within us as he opened to us the Scriptures?" You see, it's the heart that receives the Word of God. The Word of God was written for the heart. Now if a man says, "I can't believe the Bible because of my education," his problem is not his head, it's his heart. The problem of spiritual understanding is not the head, it's the heart. It's not a matter of IQ, it's a matter of a surrendered heart. Jesus says in John 7, "If you are willing to do his will, you'll know the truth." Anybody who comes to the Word of God with a humble and a sincere heart will be taught by the Holy Spirit.

Now the Apostle Paul says, "I want the eyes of your heart to be open, that you may know." That you may know what? All right, first of all, "that you may know what is the hope of his calling." You'll recall that God the Father has called us, he has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Paul wants us to know the hope of this calling. He wants us to know how hopeful the Christian life is. Now if you're not saved, you don't have any hope. You don't have any future. Things may be dark, things may be bleak, but if you're saved, you have the hope of his calling. This looks forward to the blessed inheritance we're going to receive when Jesus comes back. Have you sat down with your Bible lately to find out what's going to happen to you when Jesus comes back? That'll encourage you. Have you read in the Book of Revelation 20-22, the description of the heavenly city, the glory that we're going to have? Have you read 1 Thessalonians 4 about the coming of the Lord when our bodies are going to be changed and the dead are going to be raised? Do you know the hope of his calling?

Secondly, he prays, "that your heart may understand the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." This is the Son. The Father, the hope of his calling. The Son, the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Do you realize how rich you are in Christ? That we are his inheritance, that we belong to him? Many Christians don't know how rich they are. People say, "Oh, poor Christians." Christians are not poor, they're rich. We have the riches of his grace and the riches of his glory, the riches of his inheritance, the riches of his wisdom. We're rich in Christ. Colossians 2:10 tells us, "and ye are filled full in him."

Ephesians 1:19: "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power." Notice that word "his." His calling, his inheritance, his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power. This is the Holy Spirit. He wants us to know the hope of his calling – that's the blessings of God the Father. He wants us to know the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints – that's the blessings of God the Son. And he wants us to know the exceeding riches of his power – that's the blessings of God the Holy Spirit. Christians don't have to be weak. Christians have power. Now what power is this? Ephesians 1:20 tells us, "it's the power that raised Jesus from the dead. 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, far above every name that is named, not only in this world, 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." The power that raised Jesus from the dead. That's the greatest power in the world. It's the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now this power can go to work in your life. The Holy Spirit of God can take the wealth that you have in Christ and put it to work in your life. My, how poor we are when we try to live by the flesh. We make promises, we make determined promises and we fail. We're going to do better, and we fail. We're going to conquer our temper, and we fail. We're going to love our enemies, and we fail. But oh, if we'll just yield ourselves to the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, the power that raised Jesus from the dead. And we are in Christ, and Christ is seated on the throne of glory up in heaven, far above everything. Nothing can touch him, and nothing can touch us in him, because we have all that we need through the Lord Jesus.

Notice the "all things." Ephesians 1:22: "all things under his feet." He's "head over all things to the church." No man on earth is the head of the church. Jesus Christ in heaven is the head of the church. The church is his body, and the head controls the body. And the head of the church, Jesus Christ, is on the throne of glory, and you and I have access to the throne of glory and the throne of grace, and the spirit of God can work in our lives to give us power. There's no need to live a weak, empty life. We are a part of his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. This prayer is for enlightenment, that you and I may know what we have in Christ. Father, open the eyes of our hearts. Help us to see how rich we are in him, and help us to appropriate by faith these riches in Christ, for we pray in his name. Amen.