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Ephesians 1:15-23 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Hi, I'm thankful for this opportunity to open God's Word with you. But before we do that, could I ask for a volunteer? Pray a volunteer. Okay. Thank you, Liz. Come forward. I have a jar here. I would like you to describe to everyone what is inside this jar. A little bit of grape juice. Grape juice? Is that what it is? Honey?
• 0:38
  Yeah. What color is it? Gold. Yeah. What is the texture like, do you think? Sticky. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Good. All right. Thank you, Liz. All right. Thank you. Could I ask for a second volunteer? Brave volunteer. No tricks. Who's this in the back? Your friend is volunteering you? Okay. What's your name, brother? John. Okay. John.
• 1:11
  I would like for you to describe what is in this jar. I would say honey, yeah. Okay. What color is it? Gold. Yeah. And the texture? It's sticky. Okay. Now, though, I want you to stick your finger in here. Does it have wheat in it? No wheat. Okay. Just stick it in? Yeah. Okay. Now put that in your mouth and describe to me what is in this jar. It's honey. Yeah. Because?
• 1:47
  It looks like honey and tastes like honey. Tastes like honey. Right. Sweet. Okay. Thank you, John. Like I said, no tricks. No tricks. Now, both volunteers might know that what is in this jar is honey. You're both right. And you both might know that honey is sweet. However, Liz and John's knowledge of this honey in this jar is very different. Right?
• 2:23
  We might say that Liz has a theoretical knowledge of this honey, and that John has an experiential knowledge of it. Or in simpler terms, we might say that Liz knows about the honey, but John knows it. He knows the honey, knows that it's honey. So Jonathan Edwards...
• 2:50
  An 18th century pastor and theologian from New England, I might mention, used this difference as an analogy to describe the two ways in which we can know God. He writes, there is a difference between having an opinion that God is holy and gracious and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace.
• 3:16
  There is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet and having a sense of its sweetness. A man may have the former that knows not how honey tastes, but a man cannot have the latter unless he has an idea of the taste of honey in his mind. So there is a difference between believing that a person is beautiful and having a sense of his or her beauty.
• 3:47
  The former may be obtained by hearsay, but the latter only by seeing the countenance. In other words, you can hear that someone is beautiful and believe that, but it's much different to actually see the person and know it than by the face. So there's a wide difference between mere speculative, rational judging anything to be excellent and having a sense of its sweetness and beauty.
• 4:19
  that Edwards is describing here makes sense to you. And you might wonder, well, why am I stressing this difference? It's because at the core of the passage in Ephesians that we will examine tonight is a prayer for spiritual knowledge. A knowledge that transcends mere rational comprehension. Or we could say that Ephesians 1, 15-23
• 4:52
  is Paul's prayer for a knowledge of the heart, not a knowledge of the mind only. So I read this passage. Keep in mind the difference that Edwards has described, the difference between just observing honey and actually tasting it. Ephesians 1, 15 through 23. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,
• 5:25
  I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 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, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, 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,
• 5:55
  and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe. According to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 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.
• 6:24
  And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Before we consider this passage, I think it especially appropriate that we pray first. So would you join me in praying? Father, we've already sung about it tonight. Our prayer tonight is that you would open the eyes of our heart, that we might know you. And Father,
• 7:07
  We could just dive into every verse, every word, into the depths of doctrine and attain great understanding, Lord. But if it's not the right kind of understanding, then we are wasting our time tonight. We need an understanding of the heart, God, a spiritual knowledge. And Father, you are the only one who can grant that through...
• 7:40
  the gift of your Spirit. So we ask, Lord, send your Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit. Open our eyes. Give us a taste of the sweetness of the truth of this passage tonight. We beg you, in Jesus' name. Amen. So tonight, we're going to walk through this passage verse by verse. And we won't have time to hit on everything, because this is a very deep and dense...
• 8:14
  passage of scripture, rich passage, but I'm going to try to hit on most of the high points. So obviously we're going to start then in verse 15. Paul writes, for this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints. Now, I wonder if this gave anyone pause, because this is actually a very strange way to begin the passage.
• 8:43
  if this letter is directed to believers in Ephesus. Now why? Well, compare Ephesus 1.15-16 with Colossians 1.3-4, where Paul writes, We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints. The language here in these two passages is very similar.
• 9:14
  Right? So, what's so strange about that? Well, the letter to the Colossians makes it clear that Paul had never visited the church in Colossae. They were strangers to him. He didn't know them personally. He had only heard about their faith and love through Epaphras. Right? On the other hand, Paul knew the Ephesian church very well.
• 9:48
  Chapter 19 tells us that Paul spent at least two full years there, teaching the disciples in the Hall of Tyrannus on a daily basis. And in Acts 20, Paul makes a speech to the elders of the Ephesian church. You might remember. And then the letter of 1 Corinthians also mentions his stay in Ephesus. So Paul knew this church in Ephesus intimately, maybe better than any other church that he wrote to.
• 10:19
  as we have it preserved in the New Testament. So if that is the case, then why does Paul use language in verse 15 that suggests he only knew about these believers through what was told to him? Right? You see how that's a little strange now? Notice also Ephesians chapter 3, verses 1 through 2. It says, For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,
• 10:52
  Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you. Now, would Paul have to make this assumption? If he was writing to the Ephesian church that he spent more than two years with, who would have heard about Paul's apostleship from Paul firsthand? Right? This is strange. Furthermore, you may have observed that unlike other letters that are written to churches that Paul knows very well,
• 11:21
  In the letter to the Ephesians, there are no personal greetings. Right? No one in the church is mentioned by name. There is not even an indication that Paul has any first-hand knowledge of any specific issue in the church. Why? Right? Well, Danny mentioned two weeks ago that some of the earliest manuscripts that we have of this letter do not include the phrase in Ephesus in the letter opening.
• 11:54
  Let me actually show you one of those manuscripts. It's so cool now you can go online and you can see high-resolution photographs of some of the earliest manuscripts that we have. And here is Papyrus 46 that has the beginning of the letter. And the first verse of this manuscript could be translated, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are and are faithful,
• 12:25
  in Christ Jesus. So in Ephesus is not there. So what does all of this mean? Right? Along with many other commentators, I believe that Ephesians 1.1, 1.15, and the other features of the letter I just mentioned, indicate that this letter was written as a circular letter. In other words, Paul wrote this letter with the intention that it would be circulated among a number of churches.
• 12:58
  including churches that he had not visited before, and to believers that he didn't know personally. He didn't write this letter for the Ephesian church alone. As P.T. O'Brien writes in his commentary, we conclude that Ephesians was the general epistle sent to mainly Gentile believers in southwestern Asia Minor, and that it was linked with Ephesus at an early stage.
• 13:28
  perhaps because of its being a strategic church, or because it was one of the several cities to which the letter was sent. Okay? So, if this theory that O'Brien has is accurate, and others, I agree with it, what is the significance of this to our study of Ephesians 1, 15-23, tonight? And it's just this. This prayer,
• 14:01
  that we are studying, may be the most universal, broadly applicable, and fundamental prayer in all of Paul's letters. Okay, think about it. In all 13 of Paul's letters, there may be only one prayer that was intentionally written for the broadest possible audience and farthest ranging distribution. One prayer that Paul prayed for all believers.
• 14:33
  That speaks of a universal need and Ephesians 1, 15 through 23 is it, friends. The prayer in Ephesians 3, 14 through 19, which we'll study later, may be the only other prayer of similar scope. And as we'll see, that prayer is very similar to the prayer here in chapter 1. Now, I don't know what effect that has on you, but it makes me want to sit up straight.
• 15:05
  and pay attention. I want to know, of all the things Paul could have written, what one thing did he pray for all believers? Right? And that's what we're going to look at tonight. But before we get to the content of the letter though, notice also verse 16. I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
• 15:38
  Now, I have a confession. I was tempted to skip over this verse for lack of time. But in my preparation, the Lord challenged me to pause here and consider two things about this verse. First, if the theory that Ephesians is a circular letter is true, and that Paul has only heard about many of the believers to whom he is writing, then that means that
• 16:09
  Paul is passionately praying for strangers, brothers and sisters in Christ whom he does not know personally. And here was the challenge to me. How frequently and how fervently do I pray for believers whom I have never met? How frequently and how fervently do you? What percentage of your prayer life is devoted to lifting up Christian brothers and sisters whom you have never met but maybe only heard?
• 16:46
  As Betsy and I mentioned two weeks ago during the testimony time, we were overwhelmed when we arrived at this church and many of you, upon learning our names, said, oh, I've been praying for you. That so many of you would pray for us as strangers, as unknown in this church, was a massive encouragement to us.
• 17:17
  in a dark and difficult time. So I just want to echo what John and Amy said tonight about the love of this church just oozing. It seems to me that you're already following Paul's example in this regard. And I thank you for that, for your love and for your prayers. And secondly, from verse 16, Paul writes that he gives thanks for these believers in his prayers.
• 17:50
  And this got me thinking about how often in his letters Paul mentions thanksgiving in the same breath as prayer. And as I started searching for these examples, they just came in a flood. So let me share with you some of them quickly. Philippians 1, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine. Philippians 4, someone's year verse, right?
• 18:20
  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your request be made known to God. Colossians 1. We've already seen this. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. Colossians 4. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 1 Thessalonians 1.
• 18:46
  We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers. 1 Thessalonians 5. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. 1 Timothy 2. I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people. 2 Timothy 1. I thank God whom I serve as I remember you constantly in my prayers.
• 19:16
  Philemon 1.4, I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers. So, is this just coincidence? Is this just an unthinking habit for Paul to join thanksgiving with prayer? I don't think so. I think we are meant to learn from Ephesians 1.16 and these other verses that thankfulness is the dominant tone.
• 19:49
  of Paul's prayers. Or perhaps even better, thankfulness is Paul's primary posture in prayer. And once again, that idea has hit me square between the eyes as I thought to myself, is thankfulness my primary posture in prayer? When I am interceding, praying for my spouse, my kids, or local church, or teammates, or even leaders in government,
• 20:23
  is the first and dominant line, thank you God, for these people. Is it? And I wonder how my prayer life, how our prayers, would be transformed if we started every intercession for others, especially believers, with an expression of thanksgiving to God for them. I think we have a lot to learn from Paul's example here.
• 20:58
  Okay, finally, to the content of Paul's prayer. He says, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 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. Now, on the screen here is the text of the ESV from the 2011 updated version. But this...
• 21:28
  hard copy that I have with me is the 2001 version, and it reads, may give you a lowercase s spirit of wisdom and revelation. So perhaps some of you have other versions that include a lowercase s spirit. So this is one of the changes that was made in the 2011 update of the ESV, and I think it was a good change.
• 21:59
  Because I think it clarifies that it is not just any spirit to which Paul is referring. Not a spirit, even the human spirit, but rather the Spirit, capital S, Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God. So at its core, Paul's prayer in verses 15 through 23 is a prayer that God the Father would give believers the Holy Spirit.
• 22:31
  And specifically, the Holy Spirit in His role of imparting wisdom and revealing knowledge. But again, you might notice something strange here. Because this is a prayer for those who already have heard the Gospel and believed in Christ. For those who have already been sealed with the Spirit. As Paul writes in verse 13.
• 22:59
  So why would he pray that God would give the Holy Spirit if they already had the Holy Spirit? Right? I think the obvious answer is that we need the ongoing gift of the Spirit for fresh fillings of the Spirit, for a deeper work of the Spirit in order that we might know the things that we have already heard and believed.
• 23:33
  As Collar was saying, there is more for the Spirit to teach and show us. Friends, there's more. For the Christian, learning the deep things of God is a lifelong pursuit. And this work of the Spirit is not primarily to reveal new things to us that we have never heard before. I don't know about you, but I get nervous when people talk about
• 24:06
  spiritual secrets that they have learned. As if the most essential truths of the Christian life weren't right in front of our noses. They are. The Spirit imparts wisdom and grants us a deeper comprehension of the truths that we have already heard and have begun to grasp. That is the primary work of the Spirit. To give us a taste of the
• 24:37
  sweetness of the spiritual blessings that are ours in Christ. Last week, Danny warned us that the great doctrines expounded in chapter 1, verses 3 to 14, the section that we studied last week, the teachings about election, adoption, redemption, and so forth, might become mundane. And that is a problem, friends.
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  Yet the problem is not with those doctrines. The problem is with us. That we would become spiritually dull toward exceedingly glorious realities. And the taste of these truths would become bland in our mouths. That is a danger of which we must be aware. And more than that, it's a sin.
• 25:42
  And I think it is a particular danger for churches that have a strong emphasis on teaching and preaching and right doctrine, like this one. What can happen, and I'm speaking from personal experience here, as one who's rigorously studied the Bible in a formal academic context for many years, what can happen is that either we become intellectually fascinated with the Bible, as if it is some grand puzzle,
• 26:15
  Or that the truths of God become routine. Just old hat. In either case, we do not know God as He desires to be known. And so the great need throughout the Christian life is for fresh outpourings of the Spirit of God so that we understand and appreciate anew
• 26:48
  deeper and deeper levels what we already believe. Amen? God help us, right? Give us of your spirit. In verse 18, I believe that Paul describes the beginning of this spiritual knowledge. It starts with conversion, the new birth, when God enlightens the eyes of our heart. And again,
• 27:23
  What is being described here is not an intellectual or rational understanding alone. It is rather a spiritual sight, a vision of the heart. And as such, it is a work of God alone, the God who gives sight to the spiritually blind. And once we begin to see for the first time,
• 27:53
  The Christian life is a matter of seeing more and more clearly until that day when we will see face to face. Now in the rest of the prayer, Paul prays that believers might know three things in particular. Hope, God's inheritance, and God's power toward us. So we're going to take those one at a time. First, what is the hope to which?
• 28:27
  He has called you. Paul does not immediately explain what this hope is, but from the rest of the letter and other letters of Paul, we know that this hope includes the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, and eternal life with God on a new earth. And we know these things, right? But do we really? Do we really know them? Are these promised realities?
• 28:59
  vividly clear to the eyes of our heart. On Sunday, in preaching on the beginning of 2 Thessalonians, Danny told the story of a woman who undertook a 26-mile swim. You remember? And apparently, that day there was a fog on the ocean. And the woman eventually quit, only to discover that she was about a half a mile from reaching the shore.
• 29:33
  And she lamented, if I had only been able to see the shore, I think I could have been strengthened to finish the race. Now, of course, the woman knew that the shore was there, right? Well, obviously she was swimming toward it. Yet we might say that she only had a theoretical knowledge of that shore because she couldn't actually see it.
• 30:04
  And because she couldn't see it, she gave up. She quit. But likewise, in our Christian lives, we need more than a theoretical or intellectual knowledge of the hope to which God has called us. We need to see it, friends. We need God, as it were, to part the fog so that with the eyes of our heart, we can catch a glimpse of the hope that is ours.
• 30:37
  And our hearts will be filled with a fresh determination and we can continue the race until we reach that distant shore. So brothers and sisters, if your limbs are weary, if you've forgotten where you are going, pray, pray, pray that God would bless you with a renewed heavenly vision through His Holy Spirit.
• 31:10
  Of that promised land. Of our hope. Secondly, Paul prays that we might know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Now growing up in the church, I often heard about the riches of what we as saints will inherit. Right? So we are all familiar with the promises that we will inherit eternal life.
• 31:45
  We will inherit the kingdom of God or even the earth, right? And we sing about it, you know, thou mine inheritance, right? We sing about that tonight. We know that Jesus is preparing a place for us. Yet this phrase in Ephesians 1.18 reminds us that God is preparing an inheritance for himself. And his inheritance is we are being made ready.
• 32:21
  As the pure and spotless bride of Christ. And isn't that an incredibly precious idea? At the end of all things. In the final judgment. God will look over all that he has made. And he will say to the church. I want you. You are mine. You are my treasured possession. And I've been waiting for this moment. To take you to myself.
• 32:55
  I cannot imagine the joy that will surge through us at that moment, friends. To be recognized and cherished and claimed by God Himself. Not because of our inherent worth. No, in spite of our inherent sin. But because of His grace that will beautify us. We will become the inheritance of God.
• 33:28
  Who really believes this? Who really grasps this? We need the Spirit to open our hearts so that we can receive mind-blowing promises like this one. And finally, Paul prays that believers would know what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.
• 33:59
  And the rest of verse 19 all the way to the end of verse 23 describes this power of God. Paul heaps phrase upon phrase upon phrase so that the greatness of this power might penetrate our thick skulls and our dull hearts. First, he says, this power...
• 34:27
  is the same power that God worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Now, many of you will know this movie, right? Yeah? Avengers Infinity War, which was the highest grossing movie of 2018. And, I learned today, made the most money of any film ever during its opening weekend.
• 35:00
  For those of you who haven't seen the movie, the basic plot is that Thanos, he's the big one on the top, he's on a mission to collect six infinity stones, and then the alliance of superheroes is trying to stop him from doing that. And I have to say, the film is truly epic, right? Not only because of its special effects and battles, but also the storyline.
• 35:30
  It's as if Hollywood was trying to create the most cosmically colossal story that could be imagined. And for those of you who have seen the movie, the ultimate power in the movie is what? With Thanos' gauntlet of six infinity stones, he can wield the power to kill half of all the life forms throughout the entire universe. The ultimate power is death.
• 36:04
  Now here's a thought that never occurred to me before this last week. I'm not really a comic book or superhero guy, but I cannot think of any comic figure or superhero that has the power to raise the dead. Not a single one. Can you? You can come up to me afterwards if you know one. I don't think there is one. And why? Why not?
• 36:35
  I wonder if the comic book writers and the movie directors know, perhaps instinctively, that the power to create or restore life is a divine power. And therefore, they dare not imagine that any person, even in the fantasy world, would hold that power. I mean, can you think of a power that is greater than the power to grant life?
• 37:07
  I mean, what is the ability to punch through a brick wall or to fly into the atmosphere or to shoot laser beams from your eyes when compared to the power to raise the dead? There's only one being who wields that power and he is the living God. The one who, as the Gospel of John says, has life in himself. And not only did God...
• 37:39
  Raised Christ from the dead. But he seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. And above every name that is named. By the same power that God exercised in raising Christ from the dead. He also exalted his son above all spiritual forces. Whether they are angels.
• 38:07
  Demons, celestial beings, or powerful evil spirits. Christ has been placed far above all of them. Now the majority religion in Indonesia where we serve, as you may know, is Islam. 85% of Indonesians are Muslims. But many of the Muslims, at least in central Java where we live, are what you might call folk Muslims.
• 38:42
  That is, they believe in the Quran and they believe in their traditional tribal religions. So there's a blending of animistic beliefs and Islam. And consequently, many of the Muslims around us have a keen sense of the spirit world. And in fact, a profound fear of evil spirits. And Betsy and I have learned that there is a hierarchy.
• 39:13
  in their minds, consisting of lower level spirits, like the one that might inhabit a banyan tree, like this, and then much higher level spirits, which have dominion over entire regions or natural realms. One of the highest spirits that the Javanese believe in is called Ratu Pidul, which means the Queen of the South.
• 39:41
  who is the goddess of the sea below the island of Java. Now it seems that something like this structure of belief is also apparent in the ancient world to which Paul was writing. There are various authorities and powers and dominions. What Paul calls in chapter 6, the cosmic powers over this present darkness.
• 40:09
  the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, and whatever the identities and hierarchy of the spirits, much of which I don't believe that we are meant to know, we can be assured that Christ has been given authority over all of them. Let me tell you, it's a beautiful thing to see a new Indonesian believer and their confidence.
• 40:42
  that they gain when they stop fearing the different levels of spirits and demons, and they gain immediate access by faith to the very top of the command chain, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a beautiful thing. And Christ's authority, as the end of verse 21 states, is not only in this age, but also in the one to come.
• 41:13
  In other words, he reigns over all other rivals and he reigns for all time, forever and ever. Amen. Now the same Christ to whom God has subjected all things, putting them under his feet, this Christ was made the head of the church, which is his body. And at the end of this prayer,
• 41:42
  Paul declares that the church is the fullness of him who fills all in all. Now to be quite honest, I'm not quite sure what this means. But it does sound pretty immense, doesn't it? We may receive a clue to the meaning of this phrase in Ephesians chapter 4. Paul writes, Therefore it says, When Christ ascended on high, he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men.
• 42:12
  In saying he ascended, what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. And from this parallel, it seems to me that Christ fills all things in the sense that after his ascension and his exaltation,
• 42:45
  His authority pervades the entire universe. There is no place where He does not reign. And thus, as His body, we are His fullness in the sense that His authority, His kingdom, His rule is most fully manifested in us, the church, as a display of His wisdom to
• 43:16
  the cosmic forces, which we'll see in chapter 3. And yet, I want to bring this back full circle to the beginning of verse 9, in which Paul prays that we might know what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe. Don't miss this. The implication of what Paul writes in verses 19b through 23 is that the same...
• 43:49
  power that raised Christ from the dead, seated him at the right hand of God Almighty and put all things under his feet. This Christ resurrecting, Christ exalting power is the power that God directs toward us. The power that he works on our behalf. I'm going to be dating myself with this next illustration. Does anyone recognize
• 44:24
  Who this is. He-Man, right. This cartoon was one of my favorites when I was a kid. And when the character, for those of you who haven't seen it, you're missing out. When the character Adam got into trouble, right, he would pull this sword out and lift it. This would send chills down my five-year-old spine, right? And he would say, by the power of Grayskull, I have...
• 44:55
  the power. And then a massive lightning bolt would strike his sword and he becomes He-Man, the master of the universe. It was awesome. You'll just have to trust me, okay? Well, have you ever considered that as believers, we can say that truthfully in a very literal way. The power of the universe is ours. It's not inherently ours.
• 45:33
  It is rather worked in us and through us by God Himself. It is the power that raises us up with Christ and seats us with Him in the heavenly places. As we will learn next week from Ephesians 2. Through Christ, we are the masters of the universe. I'm not exaggerating. An immeasurably great power.
• 46:03
  courses through us who believe. Can you comprehend that? Do any of us really know that? Do we truly grasp that the power of God that He has, that He exercises on our behalf? Don't be fooled, brothers and sisters. You may look around this room and see a bunch of weak, empathetic people, which we are.
• 46:36
  People who are afflicted and perplexed and even struck down. But for those with eyes to see, there are princes and princesses in this room. People in whom divine energy and power is at work. Sin conquering death, conquering power. And how we need the Spirit to...
• 47:06
  peel back the layers of this superficial reality that we perceive with the eyes of our flesh, so that the eyes of our heart might perceive the hidden and true reality, so that we might know the hope and power and glory that is ours in Christ. Amen? Father of glory, please forgive us, God, if...
• 47:38
  the truths of your word, the truths of our salvation have become mundane to us. If we are spiritually dull, if the things of your word and the things of your spirit have become bland, God, and if there's anyone in this room who has not yet had the eyes of their hearts enlightened, if they might know a lot about you, but they do not yet know you, I pray,
• 48:18
  In either case, God, that you would send, that you would give the spirit of wisdom and of revelation that we might know you, God. This is your work. We can't do it for ourselves. We can't do it for others. So all we can do is pray and ask and plead and say, God, please do this thing that we cannot do for ourselves.
• 48:50
  that you might be glorified in our lives, that our faith might be strengthened, and that our lives might overflow with your love. We pray that even tonight, in Jesus' name. Amen.