Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Eph. 1: 15-23 December 31, 2023

Message: “That You May Know!”  

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro.: 1. In November, for the Thanksgiving season, we studied the first part of Chapter one because it is all about Jesus and what He has done for us. 

a. In Eph. 1:3, we learned how “He blessed us with every spiritual blessing…” In vs. 4 it says: “He chose us in Christ…” In vs. 5 it says: “He adopted us to be His sons…” And in vs. 7 -8, it says: “We have redemption through His blood…which He lavished on us.”

b. In the Greek text, vs. 3-14 are all one sentence! This is the longest sentence in the Bible. Our translations break it up into smaller segments to make it easier to read. But in the original, it was just as if Paul was just bubbling over with all this good news as it just flowed out of him.

2. As we finish the Christmas season, I pray we too may be bubbling over with the joy of Jesus’ birth. But today is the last day of the year. Today we are sort of looking back on all that has happened to prepare ourselves for what may happen in the new year. The advice given in Eph. 1: 15-23 seems like the perfect advice for this occasion.

3. Let us consider it together for a few moments. In this passage, Paul was praying for them and indirectly for us.

a. In vs. 15, he was rejoicing in their faith in Christ and the love they were sharing with each other. For that reason, he says in vs. 16: “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”

b. When a church loves the Lord Jesus and does its best to share that love, it creates an atmosphere in which we do our best to help each other.

4. But Paul understood the need to keep on learning so that our faith does not become stale. He also understood the dangers in the world around them, the same kind of dangers that can be found in the world in which we live today. 

a. To prepare them for what was coming, he prays for three specific things that I want to share with you this morning, three things he wanted them to “know.” 

b. But unless God opened their minds to hear and grasp it, he was afraid it would go in one ear and out the other. He knew only the Holy Spirit could give them the wisdom to claim these truths in faith (Vs. 17).

c. Spiritually speaking, he calls this “the eyes of their hearts!” He wanted God to “enlighten the eyes of their hearts” that they “may know” the Lord better.

A.  To begin with, Paul wanted them “to know the hope to which He has called you…”

1. The song writer said: “My hope is in the Lord who gave Himself for me.”  As Christians living in the world today, we must keep reminding ourselves that our hope is in the Lord.

a. Just recently, one Christian lady told me how she broke down in tears and told God she was giving up. Her finances were horrible, her dog had to be put away, her husband just had his kidney stones smashed and was in great pain, and her own health had not been good for a long time. Humanly speaking, she was overwhelmed. Apart from Christ, she had no hope. 

b. As I wrote this sermon, I was told that the violence in Manipur in India was still erupting, making the lives of many Christians very difficult.  Meanwhile the war in Israel and Palestine was also claiming the lives of many innocent people. And I could go on and on.

2. Beloved, we need hope. We need the hope we have in Christ. This world is not our final home. In Titus 2:13, Paul writes: “We wait for our blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior,  Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us…”

a. Jesus knows! Jesus understands! He is in you and will not leave you. He is coming again.

b. Cling to Him, not to the comforts of this world. The world and its pleasures are all passing away. Jesus lives and abides forever.

c. In the meantime, help and encourage each other. Be His arms to hug and comfort, be His lips to speak and encourage. The hope of the future is still experienced in the present through the presence of God’s people.

B. The secondly, in vs. 18, Paul prays “that we may know…the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints…”

1. We live in a world where many people look down on Christians. Many Christians are relatively poor and often struggle. Children are often picked on in school.  Adults go to work and are being forced to do or say things contrary to their faith.

a. Add to that our own limitations, especially as we grow older. Sooner or later you can’t do what you used to do. Earlier in your life, you may have felt useful. How do you feel as you grow older? 

b. God wants us to remind ourselves who we are! We are His glorious inheritance! 

2. We are so precious that Jesus died to save us. He came down from heaven and lived among us to do this. He adopted us as His children. We are children of the King of kings. Paul is praying we will realize who we are in Christ!

a. God doesn’t need gold or silver. God doesn’t need anything. Why would He create a world like ours, knowing we would sin and mess it up? Why would He love us so much that He would come and save us? 

b. Isn’t it the same reason we love our children? Isn’t that why many couples who can’t have children adopt children as their own? Love is “a many splendored thing.” God created us, we were made in His image, babies are special to Him, even before they are born! There will be many innocent babies in heaven.

3. Jesus loves the little children, and when we come to Christ, we are still like little children to Him. Those who come to Him He will not cast out.   So as we begin this new year, remember who you are!

C. Finally, Paul prayed in vs. 19 “that we may know… His incomparably great power for us who believe…”

1. He compares this power to the resurrection power of our Savior. Yes, Jesus raises the dead! In fact, Jesus not only rose, He is presently at the right hand of His Father in heaven “far above all rule and authority.” In fact, there is no “title that can be given, not in this present age or in the age to come” that can ever compare to the title He already holds right now (Eph. 1: 21). 

2. All this great power is under His control and is available to us who believe. Does that mean life down here is guar-anteed to be easy? No! But it is amazing how He helps us. “It is no secret what God can do. What He has done for others, He will do for you.”

a. Before going to heaven, the disciples asked when Jesus would establish His kingdom.  Jesus said they had a job to do before that great day would come. They had to go into all the world and give as many as possible a chance to be saved. And the Holy Spirit would help them to do this.

b. We also have a job that needs to be completed. God never promised us it would be easy. Ask God how you can do your part and you will see how God answers prayer. Don’t just live for comfort and pleasure. Live for Jesus. Be like Jesus. Share His love. Live by His Word regardless of the cost. Great will be your reward in heaven. Before we know it, Jesus will return on the clouds of heaven.

c. In the meantime,  Lord, help us to believe! Help us to see through our spiritual eyes what He is doing. Amen.