Ephesians Part 2 - Hope & Inheritance

Mark: It's good to see you. Well, good thanks guys. It's it's it's so good to see you. I'm glad you came back today. Steven, I might have you just pull just a like a fraction down from here. I feel like I'm getting a little bit of feedback. Last week we began our our series on the book of Ephesians, and I hope you took the time. I won't take a poll, ⁓ but I hope you took the time to read chapters one, two, and three. If you didn't, I wanna encourage you to read them this week and ⁓ just let them wash over you, get in you. ⁓ we said last week that the Apostle Paul wrote this letter ⁓ from a prison in in Rome, from a prison cell in Rome. And ⁓ and in those six chapters that we're gonna be diving into over these next weeks, we get just this incredibly pure clear picture of what God has done in and through Jesus and what that means for us, ⁓ who we are because of what he's done, and we also get what God's purpose means. For the church is on the earth. How many want to know your purpose? Amen. And how many want to know our purpose together? And I believe that there's so much revealed about that in these chapters. ⁓ last week we saw that ⁓ we have been seated in heavenly places and we have bl been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. ⁓ we saw the all the blessings from the Father, the blessings from the Son, blessings from the Holy Spirit, and ⁓ Those first 14 verses are just packed with blessing. And ⁓ we we talked about how the father chose us. How many of you are thankful that he chose us? That before the foundations of the world, you think about that. Before you chose him, he chose you. And and that's just you you meditate on that for a little while, it'll it'll change your life. The father adopted us as sons and as daughters through Jesus. When you were born again, God brought you into his family. We talked through that. You are accepted in the beloved. In Jesus, we have redemption through the blood, right? We work through that. We've been purchased, bought back. We've been given freedom from all that bound us because of his blood. I want to tell you today, if you're here today and you're not living in these realities, I want to tell you they're available. They're available. The the the the realities of freedom are available for us. ⁓ we've forgiveness of sins, restored relationship with God. Paul says that God has lavished his grace on us. We spent some time on that. That word lavish there does not mean stingy, doesn't mean a little bit. It means actually abundantly more than you could imagine. How many need a lot of grace in your life? I know I do, but he's lavished it upon us. And then Paul told us we're sealed by the Holy Spirit. And ⁓ we said in the ancient world that seal represented Ownership. So the Father, as he puts his seal on you, basically says, You belong to me. You belong to me. You're mine. And this word ⁓ literally means ⁓ down payment ⁓ or first installment. So the Holy Spirit living in you, living in me is God's way of saying, They are mine. They are mine. This is one of the reasons I know that Jesus is returning because he's coming back for what he paid for. To finish what he started, to claim what is his. And so here's the good news. I think we got a slide for this. I just want you to get this. Here's the good news: the father chose you, the son redeemed you, you're adopted, you're forgiven, and you're predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. Now, if that doesn't get you awakened today, I honestly got nothing else. I got nothing else. This is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I want to tell you, it's just the beginning. It keeps getting better and better and better. We'll find out. In other words, we could say you're rich. You're rich. Turn to somebody, look them in the eye, say, You're rich. You are rich. You're rich. And every one of those blessings that were just on that screen belong to us because we are in Christ. In Christ. In Christ. Paul says it over and over and over again, like close to 40 times in these chapters. In Christ. All of life is in him. All of the Christian life is in him. If you're not in him, you're not living the Jesus life. They're in him, they're they're they're from him, they're through him, they're for him, they're they're they're by him. I mean, everything is found in him. He's the center of it all. He is the goal, he is the purpose, he's the mystery of the ages. It's him, it's Jesus. All of history and all of the future leads to him. That's why we we give ourselves to knowing him. That's why we worship the way we do. It's why we we we say, God, I want to know you. Jesus, I want to know you because everything is leading to him. Everything. The real you is actually found in him. You actually don't find the real you outside of him. You find out actually who you are only in Him. And church, I believe we need to actually continually fill our minds, fill our spirits with these realities. Read them, pray them, meditate on them day and night. Because if you don't know these things, you'll get swayed by every storm that comes in your life. But I'll tell you what. When you come up against the things that you're gonna come up again, you can stand rooted in that, you'll be able to survive any storm. That's the truth. Memorize them, get them in you. Because when the realities of what he has done move from information, just understanding as information, into revelation, they begin to transform you. We're transformed by the renewing of our minds. And when you not only know who he is, but you actually get this believe who he is and who you are because of what he's done, you become dangerous. I think we need some dangerous Christians. We got a lot of safe Christians. The New Testament believers, the apostles, they were not safe kind of people. They were dangerous. They actually took this stuff and they actually were like, we believe it, our life depends on it. It changed them from the inside out. This isn't an outside in, this is an inside out thing. We become dangerous. What happens? What happens when this actually becomes like real in us? What happens is you get confident in the love of God. You don't just know, ⁓ yeah, God loves me. You actually get confident in the love of God. You get bold. You get you get bold. The power of fear actually gets broken. You just come in hum, no longer slaves to fear. You're like screaming it because it's a reality. Right? Like, like it if fear gets broken off, rejection gets broken off. The fear of rejection, the fear of the future actually gets broken off your life, and you stop living from insecurity and you begin living from the place of identity. You don't fear the hour you live in, regardless of what that hour is consisting of, because you know that he is working all things according to the counsel of his will. So then what is it? We want to stay in the will of God. All things. He uses all things. How many know he uses the stinky seasons? Have you ever been in a stinky one? I have. He uses disappointments. He uses difficulties. I mean, he uses breakthroughs and he uses setbacks. He he he uses every like top of the mountain, glorious moment that we have in our life, and he uses the rock bottom moments. He uses death and he uses resurrection. He uses all of it to the praise of his glory. All of it to the praise of his glory. All of it. And when that reality gets inside of you, you will wake up for the purposes of heaven. You live for the will of God in your life on the earth because you'd say, I don't want to be outside of that will at all, because I get this. I get how this works. You begin to live for something bigger than you. I think that's the ache of the human heart. We want to be a part of something bigger than just us. We're too small. We were born to be a part of a bigger thing. The story of God on the earth. And what happens is when this gets in us, we actually start being. Beginning to live in the reality of the kingdom of God. So after 14 verses that we trucked through last week, I thought I was gonna get into chapter two and three today, but you know what? We're not, we're just finishing chapter one. What I thought was a five-week series, this may be a little longer. Okay, okay, okay. You'll show up? Okay, good. All right. After 14 verses of of celebrating everything that God has done for us in Jesus, Paul, he stops preaching and he starts praying. And he starts praying for the church. And I I want you to remember this. This is where we're gonna camp out today in this prayer Paul. I want you to remember where Paul is. Paul, Paul is not on a a a beach in a beach villa somewhere on the Mediterranean. On a little prayer retreat. In this great situation where he's like, ⁓ I feel God, it's so glorious here, the sun beating on my face. No, he is in a dungeon prison jail cell, writing all of this. It's it's it's amazing. And from prison, he says, in light of all that we've just shared with you in those 14 verses, he says, For this reason, because verse 15 is where we're gonna pick up, for this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Verse 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. So, Paul from prison, I think just it's important to note, he doesn't cease to give thanks and to pray. His circumstances don't change any of that. He doesn't cease to give thanks in the middle of that difficult moment. And he doesn't cease to pray. And Paul has heard these two things about the church in Ephesus there. First, he's heard about their faith in the Lord. And second, he's heard about their love for all the saints. I think it's important for us to get this because these are two great evidences of genuine Jesus followers. Both of those things. Faith towards God and love demonstrated towards people. And Paul sees these signs as ⁓ a spiritual life in the church. He's like, I I these are signs of that they're alive spiritually. But instead of just concluding, okay, they're they're good, they've arrived, what does Paul do? He prays for more. He prays for more. How many know there's always more of God? There's an unlimited amount of God. And it's striking to me what he doesn't pray. All the things he could have prayed there, he doesn't pray for better circumstances. І дозен і дозін прай да форт. He doesn't pray for greater success. He doesn't pray for wealth, for money. He doesn't pray that they would have more influence. No, instead, he prays that God would give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Who's him? Jesus. In other words, I want you to know him. I want, I'm praying that you will know him. I want you to know him. You know when I read that, what I think is they already knew him. And yet he says, I want you to know him. I think that's the the heart cry of any pastor. I know you know him, but I want you to know him. I want you to know him. There's a there's a difference between knowing something is true and having that truth actually become a living reality in your heart. Right? Like there's a there's a difference between Knowing facts and knowing a person. I've been keenly aware of this as I've been raising my daughters over these years, you know, growing in a pastor's house, you know, we we do the things, we're always at church, we're always doing all the things. And you know, on the outside it can look like you know God, but in the heart, like where's your heart? And I've always been really sensitive to that with our girls like Christy and I. We we pray about that, we talk through that with them, like we don't want you just doing this form, this thing, like, yes, I believe in him, but do you know him? Right? Like, do you actually know him? Do you know him? There's a difference between knowing facts and knowing a person. Prayer isn't for more information, right? Some of us can talk to or blue in the face about Jesus. But do we actually talk to Jesus? Some of us can quote scriptures. We could argue with the best of them about all kinds of things. But at the end of the day, the question isn't, do you know all that stuff? The question is, do you know him? Are you with him? Are you in him? Does he is he alive in your heart? Is your heart awakened? We have access to unlimited information. You could go find out everything that I'm talking about today on your own on the internet. Please come back, don't do that. You know what mean? You can find out the information. The question is, do we have revelation? Have revelation of who he is because the prayer of revelation, the prayer is that is that revelation would come. And what does revelation do? Revelation transforms a heart. Okay? Revelation causes a heart to actually wake up, a heart to actually come alive, a heart to actually begin to burn. The word knowledge here. That he uses actually speaks of intimate experiential knowing. In other words, the Holy Spirit, with his prayers, with the Holy Spirit, would you unveil Jesus? Would you unveil the realities of Jesus? Would you unveil to the church at Ephesus the majesty and the beauty and the worth of Jesus to their hearts? Because what happens is that when revelation comes. Affection follows. You follow me? Like it's like it's like the moment the the spirit of revelation came on me for my wife. I had a moment. And I'll never forget that moment. It's part of our story. Like we were great friends. I told her we'd never be married. I was stupid. I did not have the spirit of revelation then upon me. I was deceived. Spirit of deception. And then there was this one moment, I it's so hard to explain it, but it's the only way I, it's not even the best example, but it's it's something that that works in my mind. I remember this moment. There was a moment I was picking her up from an airport, and after years of just friendship, all of a sudden I can't explain it. I looked at her and it was like, I don't know how to describe it other than the spirit of wisdom and revelation came on me, my eyes were opened. And I never saw her the same way again. Never saw her the same way again. Still the same way. Still living in that revelation. It's amazing. What happened? When my eyes were opened, affection began to follow. Love grows where revelation grows. It's not about knowing more things. It's about knowing him. You can know all about these blessings. You can actually recite them. You could actually memorize this and not know him. The question is, do you know him? Paul's praying for the church for a Holy Spirit illumination of understanding to apply all that he's saying to them through this letter. He's not looking for like, ⁓ okay, Paul, thanks. Good word, Paul. And then everybody goes to lunch. Not what that's not what this is. He's praying for the illumination of the Spirit to awaken them. And church, I want to just say this: Hope, church, we need an awakening. I'm not saying we're asleep, but I'm saying we need a greater awakening. We I need a greater awakening. You need a greater awakening. We need an awakening by the Spirit of God in us. Spirit of wisdom, it's more than facts. Okay? Like you can have a lot of wisdom and not have understanding. It it's it's seeing reality from God's perspective and then living that out accordingly. The spirit of wisdom for how to live in the world, we need that, right? It's it's it's being able to perceive what God is doing. And then how to respond rightly to what God is doing. You can know the Bible facts, you can know scripture, and you can still not see. You know doctrine, and you can actually still not live in the reality of its power. So the prayer that Paul is praying here is so powerful. I'm telling you, when it gets in you, it's Holy Spirit, would you take what is true and would you make it real? Would you make it real? Would you make it real? The word revelation here, as we've we've talked about before in the past, is this word ⁓ apocalypse, right? It's that. The the the opening up, the the unveiling, it's the pulling back of a curtain. And Paul is saying this, he's saying, Holy Spirit, pull back the curtain so we can know Jesus. Now there had to have been some level of their eyes being opened because they were believers and they had faith and they were showing love. But there is something more. He's like, he's like, let them see more. Let them see what what they they can't see. That's why we need this spirit of revelation so we can see what we couldn't see before in the spirit, eyes of the spirit. Have you ever read a verse a hundred times? And then all of a sudden the Holy Spirit just shines his light on it and it comes alive. I mean, it's the same verse, the same Bible, the same words, and then suddenly you're like, it burns. It burns. This is revelation, right? Information can educate you, but revelation transforms you. It awakens you. The Pharisees had information, right? They had the entire Torah memorized, right? They they owned that. The disciples on the road to Emmaus, like they had information, but but when Jesus opened their eyes, that's when it was a spirit of revelation came on them. Everything changed for them. So Paul doesn't pray, give them a better teacher or preacher. Some of you praying that today? That was funny. He doesn't pray that. He prays, Lord, reveal your son to them. And I'm telling you, as I think about pastoring this church, I mean, I want to get better as a preacher and a teacher, but more than anything, I want when we open the scriptures that the spirit of wisdom and revelation would move in this place and you would know Jesus, regardless of how good I am or not good I am, that your heart would burn. And not only burn, it would actually burn unto something. Knowing him in the city getting changed because we're here. What he's praying for this church. There's more to see. Look at this. Paul says this to the Corinthians, the Corinthian church, 2 Corinthians chapter 3, 18. It says, And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. So you notice the order of this, right? Like beholding, we've talked about this, then becoming. Right? Like seeing and then transformed. The the greatest revelation God can give you is Himself. greatest revelation isn't to know when he's returning. The greatest revelation is to know him. The revelation of who he is and all the layers of that. The spirit of revelation is constantly saying, look at Jesus. Look at Jesus. Look at him. Verse 18, this is what Revelation does. Verse 18, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened. having the eyes of your hearts enlightened. This is, I think this is the prayer of the hour. I think this is the prayer of the hour. Open the eyes of our heart. Want to see Jesus. No, like I want to really see him. I want to really know him. I want to be really in him. We ask for, just I've been asking, Lord, give us a spirit of awakening at our church. Give our families, give our homes just this spirit of awakening. Give moms and dads a spirit of awakening, how to how to move with the spirit of God in our homes. How to move with the spirit of the Lord wherever we are that. That we would be awakened to what he is doing. A spirit of awakening to who we are in Jesus, what he's accomplished, and then what does that mean for the purpose of life? This word illuminate or enlightened means to illuminate. It actually means to flood with light. That the Holy Spirit would flood with light our hearts with him. He's praying, illuminate the realities of Ephesians chapter one. Like let them get this. That's why you gotta keep reading it. That's why we gotta pray it. That's why we gotta sing it. That's why we gotta keep going. You don't read it and then you move on to scrolling for hours, then you forgot it. Right? Like you you you have to read it, you have to keep putting it in you, and you have to say, Holy Spirit, illuminate this to me. Let me know who I am, let me see who I am, let me see Jesus. Make this come alive. It's not it's not a checklist in the morning, guys. Are you following me? Am I too passionate for you? I don't know. But I I I mean this. I I so want you to get this, and I know that my words don't do it. It is ultimately the Spirit of God that will open us up. May we be awake in this. He prays that we would know three things. He goes on, he prays that we would know three things, starting there in the second half of verse 18. He says that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power? Towards us who believe according to the working of his great might. My gosh, that's good. You know what this is about? It's about Him. You look at that, His calling. If you look at the scripture, if it's on the screen, His calling, His inheritance, His power, His great might, it's all about Him. I want you to know. I'm praying you would know all these things about your God. The first one that you may h may we'll just work through these three real quick. That you may know the hope to which he has called you. That's the first one. How many know that your believed, your believed in future determines how you live now? Okay, like the future that you believe in shapes your present. This is something we can't talk enough about. Like that's why people say begin with the end in mind. Like, like if you don't have a sense of where this is going, then then you then it's gonna determine how you live right now. Also, if you have a sense of where life is going and it's a wrong sense, it's gonna shape how you live right now. There's this Jewish man, his name was Viktor Frankel, and I was reading about him this week, and he survived the Nazi concentration camps. And afterwards he reflected on his experience there as he, you know, was obviously ⁓ among some of the worst, you know, things we've ever seen in history. And he was reflecting on why some prisoners survived and others gave up. And he concluded that when a person lost hope in the future, they often lost the will to live. Okay? Here's all I tell you: hope matters. Hope matters. But it's important to understand here that sometimes we have shallow hope. Hope is not talking about wishful thinking. He's praying that we would know true hope. What is true hope? And Paul here is actually writing and he's actually praying out of Isaiah chapter 11. And ⁓ how many thankful that that the Old Testament ⁓ is is ⁓ it is still relevant? Okay, the New Testament doesn't wipe out the Old Testament. ⁓ we get a clear picture of a lot of things in the New Testament that are realities in the Old Testament. God doesn't change, He He doesn't change, He's the same. Right? Are you that's not a great way of saying it, but you know what I'm saying. Here we go. So scratch that. Isaiah 11. Here we go. Paul's writing, and he's praying this from Isaiah 11. And in and really Isaiah 11, I encourage you to go read it another time, but it's a it's a it's a picture of that future, that future hope. And it starts like this: Isaiah prophesies, verse one. It says, There, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall Bear fruit. What's he talking about? He's talking about Jesus. Verse 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or Decide disputes by what his ears hear. So, so this is this is kind of the framework for much of what Paul is writing here. And this chapter, it goes on, he goes on and he and he he says, he talks about how one day the wolf will dwell with the lamb. He talks about how the leopard will lay with the young goat. he talks about the cow and the bear will graze together. And he says, A little child shall lead them. And then do you know what he says in verse 9? He says this for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea. I want to encourage you, go back and read Isaiah 11. It will just blow your mind. Read that in context to the future of what God will do as his kingdom breaks in. And so Isaiah's giving this prophetic vision of creation here, really finally being put right. Under the reign of Jesus. How many know that day is coming? We have to root ourselves in this, right? And Paul says, I want your eyes to be opened to that future. I want your eyes to be opened to that hope. And if you read that entire chapter, it's this picture of not escaping the world, but God actually coming into the world to rescue it from corruption and decay. To actually dwell here and to be at home here with us. It's what Paul says, God's purpose is in verse 10 that we read last week. Look at this again in verse 10. As a plan, Jesus, as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and on earth. Now I know that's a lot. Are you following some of look glazed over? Are you following me? This is very, very important. You, if you need to pinch yourself to wake up, do it. Because this is so important. We got to get this moment right here. I'm telling you. You have to get this. Isaiah 11 is so powerful, and really it's pointing to what Paul just said. I'm gonna read it again, verse 10. Jesus, we read this last week, as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. NT Wright, this amazing theologian. He talks about this, and he talks about how many, many people think that the hope and the inheritance that we're talking about this morning consists entirely of us going to heaven. But he says biblically, the New Testament hope is not primarily about leaving earth and going to heaven, but about the return of Jesus. The return of Jesus. It's about the resurrection of the dead. And it is about the renewal of all creation that has already begun here and now through the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Church, this is our hope. This is our hope. This is our hope. Our hope isn't how tomorrow will work out. Our hope is ultimately in the return of Jesus, Him making all things new. That He began when He was resurrected. New creation began then until he ultimately will make all things new. Are you following? It's a lot to grasp, but it's important that we do. Church, his kingdom has come, his kingdom is coming, and his kingdom will come. And we the church get to be a part of that reality. Right now until he returns. So what does this mean? This means you you you haven't been chosen, adopted, redeemed, and forgiven only to make it to heaven someday. You've been chosen, adopted, redeemed, and forgiven to be a part of something much, much bigger than you. I want to say that again. Much, much bigger than you. Much bigger than you. Much, much bigger. Cosmically bigger than you. Bigger than your plans for next year. Bigger than your comfort. Bigger than your success. You have a part to play in the bigger. This is the prayer that we would know the hope of his calling, and his calling is your calling to see his will be done, his kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. And when this reality actually gets in our heart, it will change the reason why you get up in the morning. Okay? Are you with me? It'll change the reason why you go to work. It'll change your reason for work. It'll change your reason for why you make money. It'll change. It'll change the purpose for why you would want to get married and have children. Because it isn't about you, it is about his will. Okay, that's a good word, Josh. It'll break you out of a small, me-centered life. And it will invite you into the glorious plan of God. I believe that is what we are seeing begin here in Ephesians. When you wake up to the hope of his calling and you stop just trying to live for your own thing, I'll tell you what, you come alive to your calling. And you get delivered from you. Because you awaken to the fact that life isn't about you, it's about Jesus and his kingdom. ⁓ the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that we would know him, that we would know the hope of his calling so we can enter in with him. It's about the victory of Jesus being applied in every corner of the world. Wherever it's needed. We say that and we think, ⁓ somewhere over in Africa, I want to tell you it's about the victory of Jesus being applied tomorrow morning at work. Tonight around the dinner table. It's about the realities of what he has done being applied. It's about us being the hands and feet of Jesus on the earth. Literally to invade the world with the realities of his kingdom. That's why he prays that our eyes would be enlightened. We need this. I think we need a deliverance from self. In American Western thinking, Western church, we have just built everything in such a consumeristic way that it's about me, me, me. Guys, this is not how this works in the kingdom. It is about him. It is about him. And if I'm living for me, I can't see why I'm really alive. Because I'm dead. I'm supposed to be. This is why he prays that our eyes would be enlightened. Church, history is headed somewhere. It's it's headed, it's it's it's headed in the uniting of all things in him. Things in heaven and things on earth, and we get to be a part of it. Okay? The second the second thing he prays for that we would know is this verse 18, the second half. That we would know the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. First 14 verses are about our inheritance and all that he has done. Now he's talking about his inheritance. Do you know what his inheritance is? You. Turn to somebody, tell them it's you. It's you. It's you. Paul's making reference here to Deuteronomy 32. It says, But the Lord's portion is his people. The Lord's portion is his people. His inheritance is his bride. His inheritance is his church. The people that he purchased with his own blood. Paul's praying that we would understand how valuable we are to God. One commentator that I read, he said this: he said that you would be smitten by your value to God. That you'd be smitten by how rich God feels when he looks at you. Because until you're astounded by how rich God feels when he looks at you, that your value to him is that great, you're not gonna live the life that you ought to live. I remember when I felt like God gave me a revelation of his love. Have you ever just had encounters with his love that just wrecked you? I remember I was just worshiping at the piano. This is probably 15 years ago, and I just started singing this little song that came out of me that just said, I am loved. I am loved more than I imagine, more than I can fathom. I am loved. And I'm telling you what, what happened in that moment was I had an encounter with the love of God, and I saw how he saw me. And when you see how God sees you, it will change everything about you. It will change how you see everyone around you. We need an encounter with the love of God that we would be smitten by how rich God feels when He looks at us. Here's a prayer to pray. I heard somebody pray this once. Father, show me who I am to Jesus. You should write. Father, show me who I am to Jesus. Show me who I am. Show me, show me who I am to your son. And then you know what happens after you've done that a while? Then you start praying that over other people. Father, show me who my wife is to Jesus. Whoa. That'll change you. I encourage when there's a marriage conflict going on, I'm like, go home and pray and ask the Lord to show you. Who your spouse is to him. Pray it over others. I just want to camp there for a minute. I want to encourage you, pray that over your spouse. Show me, show me who my wife is to Jesus some of you just pray and show me who my wife is. That's a good prayer too. Not exactly in the context of what I'm talking about, but show me who my husband is. You know, some of you that are looking for a a a wife or a husband, you're gonna be like, Show me who my wife is to you. Then you're gonna be like, Lord, let me see their face. Pray it over your spouse. Because you know what? Your wife isn't only your bride, she's the bride of Christ. That'll change you. She's his inheritance. Pray it over your children. Your children aren't just your inheritance, they're his inheritance. That'll change you. That prayer thing will change you. Pray it over the person sitting next to you. They aren't just a church attender, they're part of the inheritance of God. This prayer will change the reality of how we see people. And finally, Paul prays this that we would know, verse 19, that we would know what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might. Paul's not praying that God would give them more power. Church, God, Paul is praying that we would know the power that's already at work in us. It's already at work in us. What kind of power? The kind of power, verse 20 describes it. This is the kind of power that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and he seated him at the right hand in heavenly places. He's talking about this is the power that's at work in you resurrection power. That's power that raises dead people, that raises dead hearts, that raises dead marriages. Raises dead dreams and callings, that raises dead relationships, that raises dead situations. Our God raises the dead. This is what He does. He's not intimidated by death. He's broken the power of death. And this power not only raised him from the dead, it seated him in the heavenly places, and that same power raises us from the dead. And seats us with him in heavenly places. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was the launching of new creation breaking in in church. Nothing can stop it. Nothing can stop it. Hell can't stop it. Culture can't stop it. Governments can't stop it. Presidents can't stop it. Your past can't stop it. Your weaknesses can't stop it. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in you and flows through you. It is ours. It is ours. It is ours. And my prayers, ⁓ Holy Spirit, that that we would know the measurable greatness of it towards us. That we would know, encounter the power that's available. Church, this power has the capacity to do whatever needs to be done. God's will. God's bill. He's he's got the resource to accomplish whatever his will is. So if you're in the will of God, he's got it. I just declare this over you today. You're not defeated. You're victorious because he is victorious. This needs to get in us. I'm gonna close in just a minute. Somebody asked this pastor if he was an optimist or a pessimist. And he replied this way. I thought it was so powerful. He said, I'm neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. That's it. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. That's it. Church, this is the key. He is risen. Not just on Easter, He is risen. You can face the worst thing with great hope because of it. The resurrection leads to the ascension, where He is now seated. And that's how we close. Verse 21. Here's where He's seated. This is where he's at, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body. Get this the fullness of him who fills all in all. Church, there are times that things might not look like this is a reality. You might not feel like Jesus is ruling and reigning, but I want to tell you, He is the King of all kings, and He is the name above every other name. He is above every government, every ruler, every authority, every power, every dominion, every demonic power, every attack. He's over every sickness and over every disease. He is above every name that can be named. There's not a name on the planet of history or in the future that is above his name, not only in this age, but in the age to come. And God put all things under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church. Paul is, he's, he isn't praying for a better prison cell. He's praying for open eyes. I feel like some of us are just praying for a better prison cell. We gotta say, God open my eyes to really see what's going on. Because I want to see you. I get so right here. Open my eyes. Zoom me up. So I can see what you're seeing. Open my eyes to the reality of your rule and how you've called me to join you, called us to join him. And sharing in his rule. This is Ephesians chapter one. Stand. It's a good word. How many ⁓ How many just desire for the spirit of wisdom and revelation to open your eyes today? Here's what I'm gonna do. Just wanna ask you if that if if that's your heart's cry, would you just close your eyes, just lift your hands? Just lift your hands to the Lord. And if you pray in tongues, would you just begin to pray in tongues? If you pray in English, just begin to call out the name of Jesus. But let's do it out loud. Come on. And just begin to invite him. Just begin to invite him. Come on church, just let that prayer go up. We're gonna join in with Paul's prayer. Just let your word come alive right now on us. Come on, if you pray in tongues, I want you to do it out loud. It's okay right now because we don't need an interpretation, but we're just gonna keep praying English. Praying English is great. But let's do it out loud today. Open our eyes. Open our eyes to see. Open our eyes to see you. Open our eyes to see Jesus. Spirista. Open my eyes again, spirit of revelation, open my heart again, spirit of wisdom, spirit of wisdom, open my eyes again, spirit of revelation, open my heart, open. Our eyes, Lord. Come on, let your hunger rise up. Open our eyes to see Jesus, our eyes to see Jesus. Open our eyes, way beyond information, revelation. Open our eyes. Spirit of wisdom open my eye. Let's just pray it as the church. Spirit of revelation. Open my heart. Spirit of wisdom. Spirit of wisdom. Open my eyes. Open my eyes again, spirit of revelation, open my heart, cause I cause I want to see you. Cassad, Kiss I want to see, see you rightly, Jesus. Sigh, kiss I want to see. Cause I want to see see you rightly, Jesus. Pray you would take us way beyond religion. Would you just take us way beyond information? ⁓ All the way into your heart. All the way into your very just welcome a holy awakening right now among us in ⁓ in our church. Could we just lift our voices and just say, would would you just would you, Holy Spirit, would you just awaken us? Would you awaken your church? Would you awaken your bride? On just pray it out. Awaken us. Awaken us to this prayer. Awaken us to your word. Awaken us. I pray for just even a spirit of repentance to turn from everything that would hinder love. Everything that would hinder love. I pray for an awakening right now in your bride, in your church. Dead religion. We don't want it. We want to be alive on the inside. We want to live in the realities of the hope of our calling. We want to live in the reality. Of understanding your inheritance. ⁓ Jesus, I pray for an awakening in us, God. A holy awakening to know you. Come on, church, just lift your voices. Let's just cry out for a minute. Lord, a hunger and a thirst for righteousness. Hunger and a thirst for you. Cass on a nose. Cass Wanna see see you right? Wanna see you. Wanna see, see you rightly, Jesus. Holy Spirit, would you illuminate the scriptures to us? I pray that this week the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of the Lord. Would be so alive and active in every single person in this room in the family center. I pray that when we opened the word of God, that you would illuminate it, you would speak to us, and you would catch us up in your story. I pray you would deliver us from ourselves. I pray that you would lift our gaze to the reason we're alive on the earth. And you would establish in us such a rooted firm foundation and hope and I pray that in Jesus' name and everybody said amen amen yeah I love you. We love you. I hope you have an amazing week. Get in the Word of God. He's going to speak to you. Encourage somebody before you leave today. God bless you for coming.

2 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention Isaiah 11 · chapter mention