That Ye May Know

Introduction to Paul's Prayer and its Characteristics

0:02 Ephesians chapter 1, Ephesians chapter 1, and I shall read verses 15 through the middle of verse 19.

0:28 For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which ye show towards all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having had, which would be a better translation, having had the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe. We are continuing our studies in this great prayer of the Apostle, which begins with verse 15, and continues down through to the end of the chapter. Thus far we have seen the factors which provoked him to prayer, or to more intensive prayer, it was the report of the growing graces of faith and love among the saints there at Ephesus. And then we saw the essential characteristics of his prayer, put here as a model for what should characterize our praying.

1:54 He prayed with consistency and constancy. He said, I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. He addressed himself to a proper object when he prayed. He didn't pray, dear Jesus.

2:09 Or just, dear Lord. He addressed himself to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The God or the Father of glory. He addressed himself to the great, majestic, infinitely holy and wise God of the Bible.

2:28 And in his prayer there was a self-conscious recognition of the majesty and the glory as well as the intimacy and the love of this great God. And then he had the right attendant to his prayer. He mingled thanksgiving with his prayers. His petitions were suffused with praise.

2:48 And so we are directed by this same apostle in Philippians 4 to mingle praise with all of our petitions. Then we have been studying for some weeks the principal concern of his prayer, namely that God would grant to the Ephesians a spirit of wisdom and revelation. In the knowledge of him. The principal concern of his prayer is that the spirit would be given in ever-increasing measure to the Ephesians to the end that they might perceive with greater clarity certain tremendous Christian privileges.

3:28 Last week we looked at the phrase which I call the parenthesis, the necessary prerequisite to have this continual ministry of the spirit is that we have experienced the initial. The initial. The initial ministry of the spirit. We will not know the spirit continually as the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God unless we have first of all known what it is to have the eyes of our hearts enlightened.

The Prerequisite: Enlightened Eyes of the Heart

3:52 And that is simply another way to describe the work of God in effectual calling the work of God in bringing us to the experience of saving grace. Now this morning we begin a study of the three particular ingredients that form what we might call the basic heart of Paul's prayer. He's asking God to give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation to the end that they might know. That is that they might obtain enlarged, accurate and spiritually perceptive views of three things.

Overview of the Three Objects of Paul's Prayer

4:32 First of all, the hope of his calling. Secondly, the riches of the glory of his inheritance. In the saints. And thirdly, the exceeding greatness of his power.

4:45 Now as we approach these three things that Paul is trusting the spirit to give them further understanding in we're going to look at them this morning in a broad overview to show their connection one with another. And then having looked at them in a broad overview I want to extract a fundamental principle which lies at the heart of the apostles. The concern that they might know these three things. Then the Lord willing next week we shall begin to dissect them phrase by phrase.

5:18 First of all then as we look at them in a broad overview notice the things he is trusting, praying, believing God by the spirit to give them a further understanding in. First of all he says what is the hope of his calling. When God effectually calls men to himself he implants within them a sense of hope. He implants within them a sense of hope.

5:40 He implants within them a sense of hope. He implants within them among other things the Christian hope. Now Paul desires that they know what that hope is. He's not praying that they may obtain the hope but he's assuming they already have the hope and he's praying that they may know that hope.

6:01 And the word know means that they may perceive more clearly and accurately with spiritual sensitivity what that hope is. The essence of that hope, the ground of that hope, the certainty of that hope. Then he prays in the next place that they may know what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Now is there any connection between those two?

6:25 Well there is.

6:27 If the hope is that which resides in the heart of the believer then the object of that hope is the inheritance appointed for the believer. And so he is praying that the spirit would be given not only that they might have more clear, accurate and spiritually perceptive views of the hope that resides within them but that they might have more enlarged, accurate and spiritually perceptive views of that which is the object of their hope namely that inheritance. And he describes it as the riches of the glory of that inheritance. Well then, what's the connection between those two things and what follows?

7:12 What the exceeding greatness of his power to us were to believe. Well it should be obvious. The means by which the inheritance is received and realized the very inheritance which is found in the breast of the believer in terms of hope by what means is the hope of that inheritance to be actually realized? By means of the power of God that's already been operative in the heart and life of the believer.

7:42 And so Paul is concerned that they not only have enlarged views of the ground or the hope but the object of that hope, the inheritance and the means by which the inheritance is secured and the hope is realized, namely the power of God. So you see there is a logical and a close connection between these three things. Alright, having had that broad overview now I want you to think hard with me this morning on what I'm going to talk about next. What I'm calling the fundamental principle contained in Paul's prayer that they may know these three things.

The Fundamental Principle: Knowing Grace for Growth

8:21 Why does he go to all this trouble to pray this way and then of all things to write it down in a letter?

8:28 This is going to servants. To men of the artisan class. It's going to common everyday people. Why does Paul when he enters his closet if you could listen to him pray when he's praying for the Ephesians he's saying, Oh God.

8:43 God of glory. God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ give to the Ephesians the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Oh God give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation that they may know that they may have more accurate enlarged spiritually perceptive views of the hope of their calling of the riches of the glory of the inheritance in the saints of the exceeding greatness of the power that you've exercised toward them in Christ. Why is he praying that?

9:13 Having prayed it why does he write it in a letter?

9:17 Is it that he might merely make of the Ephesians some good lay theologians? Because if you understand what those words mean in some sense you have become a theologian in your own right. Hope, calling, inheritance, greatness of his power those are profound biblical concepts. Now is Paul simply concerned that the Ephesians whose heads now may be weighed three pounds with biblical knowledge will become top heavy with twenty pounds?

9:44 Is that his concern? Or is he just concerned to show them how astute he is as a theologian and baffle them and amaze them with his big words? Is that what he's concerned about? No, no.

9:57 The apostle is concerned with the growth and perfection of the church of Jesus Christ. Why? Because he knows that it's God's purpose to develop and to perfect the church. He tells us that in Ephesians 5 Christ loved the church, gave himself for it that he might present it to himself a perfect church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

10:19 And because that's God's goal it's Paul's goal. So having instructed them he says I beseech you to walk worthy of the calling wherewith you were called. He's concerned with the growth and perfection and development of the church of Jesus Christ and in connection with that great concern he says this is what I pray for you. I pray that the spirit may give you enlarged, more accurate and spiritually sensitive views of the hope of his calling riches of his inheritance exceeding greatness of his power.

10:51 Well, what's the principle then that motivates Paul to pray that way in connection with the great object of his concern their growth and development? Here it is. And this is the heart of the message this morning. If you missed this, you've missed everything.

11:05 I failed. Here's the principle.

11:09 Obtaining more enlarged, accurate and spiritually perceptive views of the principle and blessings God has conferred in grace is one of the principal means of growth in the Christian life. Now let me give it to you again. I haven't just jotted this off. I've labored long, scratched out words, included words, changed the order of the sentence because the whole message pivots on this statement.

11:42 Get it. Obtaining more enlarged, accurate and spiritually perceptive views of the privileges and blessings God has conferred in grace is one of the principal means of growth in the Christian life. Notice Paul did not pray that they might have some new hope imparted by the Spirit or that they might get an increased inheritance or some new power not at all. He's saying I'm praying that ye may know what that hope is that you already have.

12:24 That you may know what that inheritance is to which you are already assigned and that you may know what the exceeding greatness of His power is the power that is already operative in you who believe. You see, He is not praying that they get something new. He's praying that the Spirit may enable them to have enlarged accurate and spiritually perceptive views of what they already have and are in Jesus Christ. Because He knows that that is the path to Christian growth and development.

13:07 And at this point it thrills me to the core to see the absolute antithesis, the complete difference between biblical truth of Christianity and every perversion of Christianity and every pagan religion. And it's found right here.

13:26 All religions and perversions of Christianity say become something that you may obtain something. Christianity says you have obtained now become.

13:43 See the difference? In one, the direction is you move up to God and you move up to God and you move up to God and you move up to God and you move up to God and you move up to God and you can get the reward. The other is God has moved down to you in grace and you respond in love.

13:59 Now let it sink in. That's not just playing with words.

14:05 All perversions of Christianity and heathen religions say become something that you may obtain something. God says you have obtained in grace now become that which grace makes a man. All heathen religions and perversions of Christianity say do this that you may obtain something. That you may possess that.

14:25 God says you possess that. Now in the light of it do this. You can think of the illustrations fancy.

14:33 What does the scripture say? Since then ye have been raised together with Christ set your affection on things that are above. You have this privilege now here's the demand it makes. Never the other way around.

14:49 All heathen religions and perversions of Christianity say the attitude of the deity to you depends primarily upon your attitude to him. Christianity reverses it and says your attitude to him depends on the reality and the certainty of his attitude to you. He has loved us with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness he has drawn us.

15:20 All the wheels of devotion of worship and love in true biblical faith of biblical Christianity are set in motion and continue to move by what?

15:36 By the discovery of what grace has freely conferred. That's it. And the more fully I know what grace has conferred the more fervently I'll serve the more fervently I'll worship the more fervently I'll pray and seek to please my God. Now do you know do you see why Paul is praying Oh God give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation that they may know what is the hope of their calling.

16:07 This hope is a privilege of grace and Lord if they are loving you and serving you and believing on you with the present measure of understanding for remember what provoked his prayer was not that they were in bad shape things were going well. I heard of your faith and your ongoing love but he says how is faith and love going to be developed? Lord help them to know more fully what their hope is and the more they see their hope the more they'll believe you the more they'll love you the more they'll serve you. He said sure you have the down payment of your inheritance verse 14 you're sealed with the spirit who is the earnest of the inheritance but he said Lord if what they know of that inheritance now will make them love you and serve you this much what will happen if they get a little greater vision of the glory of that inheritance by the wheels of devotion will turn with greater speed and force that's the pattern and you find that all the way through the scriptures.

17:05 I wish I could take time this morning to demonstrate many other areas but I won't be able to put teeth into the application so I won't let me just get one that is another classic illustration and then I hope this will open up many other passages of the word look at Colossians chapter 2 for a moment please.

17:27 Colossians 2 1 to 3 For I would have you know how greatly I strive for you and for them at Laodicea and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh that their hearts may be comforted being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding that they may know the mystery of God even Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge for this I say that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech for though I'm absent in the flesh yet I'm with you in the spirit joying and beholding your order the steadfastness of your faith in Christ he says I see evidences of grace and the way those evidences will be increased is you understand more fully all that God has treasured up in his son and because you are in him the treasures that are yours by virtue of that union.

18:31 Everything in pagan religion and pagan religion and perversions of Christianity has the arrows in the wrong direction you move up that God may move down Christianity says he has moved down in grace and any movement toward him is but our response to the movement of God. So the great principle then that undergirds and surrounds and breathes through the very prayer of Paul I'll give it to you one more time the principle is this obtaining more enlarged accurate and spiritually perceptive views of the privileges and blessings God has conferred in grace is one of the principal means of growth in the Christian life. Having then looked at the broad overview establish the principle now in the remaining minutes let me derive two fundamental and practical applications from the principle. Principle number one or application number one since these enlarged accurate views of the blessings conferred are spiritual in nature we must learn with Paul to cry to God that the Holy Ghost would grant them to us.

Application 1: Cultivating Dependence on the Holy Spirit

19:51 Paul did not say for this cause I pray that God would increase your IQ that you may know what is the hope of your calling nor did he pray that God would give you the gift of intelligence out of which come theologians he says no for this cause I pray that God would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation that you may know these things these are spiritual realities and they can only be spiritually that's why I use the term we must obtain not only enlarged accurate but spiritually perceptive views of our privileges and there's a world of difference between acquaintance with the letter of our privileges and the and a hard acquaintance with the spirit of those privileges people who traffic in the words of the Bible without this work of the spirit giving spiritual sensitivity and response to the word make perfect little Pharisees they trafficked in the Bible day and night Jesus said ye search the scriptures but you will not come to me you miss the message of the scriptures and so we must learn and I use the term carefully we must learn to cultivate this spirit of dependence

21:19 upon the Holy Spirit that will find us crying with Paul with David in Psalm 119 in verse 18 open thou my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law let me put it as bluntly as I know how if you come next week with your confidence in the fruit of the pastor's study and the whatever gifts God has given him to lay out God's truth clearly if you come with your confidence in those things to understand the hope of your calling the riches of the glory of your inheritance and the exceeding greatness of his power God's going to send you away empty you need that God should give the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him and if he doesn't give that you're going to go away empty scratching your head saying the pastor was never more muddy more unclear more obtuse whatever that means you're going to miss it so you must not come thinking that the mere fruits of my prayer and study will automatically mean that you'll understand these things no we must cultivate a prayerful approach to the word as we sit our hearts lifted up to God as you sit and as I stand together lifting our hearts up saying oh God grant us the spirit of wisdom and revelation

22:47 not for new visions not for new revelation but oh God to take the dullness from our eyes to see what is ours in Christ cultivating this dependence will not only be marked in a prayerful approach to the word but a prayerful attitude under the word do you know what it is when the preacher's preaching and he seems to be quite excited about something that's very real to him and you're missing it you know what it is to lift your heart up consciously right there in the pew saying God light light light Lord light light light light do you know what it is to pray while you're listening is this your spiritual posture in other words if we could transpose into physical expression what is the posture of your heart would I see all of you many times dropping to your knees in the course of a sermon it ought to be true that in the midst of the exposition of the word the opening up of the great privileges that are ours in Christ you ought to be having not just indirect dealings with God in terms of the general climate of the preached word and the presence of God in the midst of his people but you ought to be having direct dealings with God just as I do when I'm preaching many times feeling that something's not coming clear even while I'm speaking half of my heart's going up to God saying Lord more light Lord an illustration something that can get it through we must together as a worshipping congregation

24:16 be having direct dealings with God not only in a prayerful approach to the word but a prayerful attitude unto the word and then and this is the great area of weakness with many of us we must cultivate a prayerful reflection upon the word after it's been preached Lord I think I've got the substance of what the preacher said and caught a little glimpse of it but oh God give me the spirit to know what is the hope of my calling Lord help me to know with enlarged accurate spiritually perceptive views what the hope of my calling is for Lord I know in the light of what I've seen that the wheels of my devotion the wheels of my obedience will turn in direct proportion to my understanding of my privileges in Jesus Christ so I say the first word of application is that if these enlarged views are a primary means of growth we must learn to cry to God for the work of his spirit and this is a very pointed word to you who are strangers to God's grace if a man already indwelt and sealed by the spirit and the eyes of his heart enlightened needs further illumination of the spirit to understand these things what hope is there for you with the cataracts of sin over your eyes you'll become so hopelessly baffled

25:45 and bumfumboozled that you'll say I'm not going back to that place again for a while these things go right over my head I'm never upset when anyone has said at the end of a sermon you know I just didn't get a thing out of that if I have reason to believe they don't profess to know Christ I glory in that because the scripture says the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned I'm not surprised that a snake might somehow crawl down the middle of New York and be right next to the Empire State building and never get up on its tail and say oh look at it it has no capacity to appreciate what's there as far as he's concerned he could be crawling over a slab of concrete in the middle of a jungle somewhere makes no difference to him there's that imposing structure that brings people from all over the world and I was impressed with that it's a little miniature United Nations when you go up on that tower everybody who comes to New York from anywhere got to see the Empire State building awed by this thing until our good friend Mr. Blaze used his West Indian expression more times when we went up there looking at one part and the other just couldn't get over this thing why? because there was an ability to perceive something of the magnitude and the grandeur of that architectural wonder

27:14 not a snake no ability there's everything in that wonder to produce but there's no capacity to perceive it and there's some of you sitting here you cannot perceive the hope of his calling the riches of the glory of his inheritance why? these are spiritual truths and there is no faculty no capacity in you to understand and receive it Jesus used the very same word that Paul uses here for know in John 3 except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God that's the same word in the original except a man be born again he cannot see he cannot perceive the kingdom of God he said I pray that the Father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom in revelation that he may know perceive see the hope of his calling except you're born of the spirit you cannot perceive that ought to be in the one hand the most humbling thing and on the other hand the most hopeful thing God doesn't ask you to create your own sight but to stand with that poor blind beggar and say Lord Jesus have mercy upon me what wilt thou that I do unto thee Lord that I may receive my sight Jesus can make blind sinners see that's the first application the second and final is this since these enlarged accurate and spiritually perceptive views come to the understanding we must spare

Application 2: Engaging in Mental Effort and Reflection

28:43 no mental pains to attain them Paul prays that they may know that has to do with the understanding having the highs of the heart enlightened as we saw last week the heart takes in the intellect and the understanding as well as the affections and the will therefore these things come in a context on the one hand of profound words look at some of the words in these three things look at them hope what a great biblical word I've spent hours this week just tracing it out calling what another profound biblical word riches of the glory riches glory inheritance exceeding greatness of his power principalities powers might dominion head church body those are profound concepts you don't understand those biblical words just sitting there doing what comes naturally you've got to gird up the loins of your mind there's mental sweat the Holy Ghost was never given to put a premium on mental laziness the idea well I've prayed before the ministry and I'm praying during and I'm going to pray after so I'll just sit in neutral and hope the Holy Ghost will drop something in no no my friend no no the Holy Spirit's working is never apart from the exertion of the Holy Spirit

30:12 and the involvement of your own mind that's why Paul can write to Timothy and I love this text in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 having given some biblical instruction he then says think on these things and the Lord give the understanding in all things think on them and the Lord give the understanding he didn't say the fact that the Lord gives understanding means you don't have to think nor did he say if you think your mind will he says you think the Lord will give understanding he didn't say there's the fusion the responsibility not only are there profound words look at the profound concepts the future reality of heaven the hope of his calling the inheritance the resurrection of Christ and the power that was operative to raise him not only from the realm of death but above every created realm principalities powers it speaks of his exaltation his session at the right hand of God in this prayer there is close reasoning there are inferences there are inferences progressions of thought deductions well you don't see things like this and understand them without careful intense study thought and reflection hence the little saying no gains without pains is true when it comes to knowing your privileges in Christ let me state it again as bluntly as I know how if you're too lazy to think

31:39 you will not come to that increased understanding that is necessary to increased growth and for some of you perhaps the key issue in the stagnancy of your spiritual development is your cursed mental laziness the dissipation of mental faculties too much TV watching too much sitting around just reading the sport page until your mind becomes lazy that when you come to hear the word of God you can't sit there and think hard and close for 45 minutes your mind is as untrained for that as my old gimpy legs were to go out and play football for 8 hours or 6 hours on my Sunday school picnic and so I ended up lame for 3 weeks I wasn't prepared for those demands and you don't become a different person simply because you walk through those doors you bring the mind with you that you've been cultivating or failing to cultivate during the entire week and if the mind has been lazy and has not done anything in the way of close deep penetrating thought it doesn't all of a sudden switch it on when it comes in this building how is it that in this very building year after year people with relatively the same IQ it's not a matter of how much grey matter is there some of you have blossomed and developed and sprung as it were into men overnight and some of you are still babes

33:08 feeling the same I'll tell you why some of you are just plain mentally lazy that's your problem that's your problem that's your problem that's your problem that's your problem and you've got to sit there and wait for some little blessing some kind of a little spiritual high you know something to sort of jog you and make you feel good and if you get that and go out and say I've got a blessing some little phrase in a prayer or something in a hymn made you feel good oh my friend that's not the way to spiritual growth if that were then Paul would not come to us with these profound words these profound concepts this chain of reasoning and inferences and progression and deductions no no no the man who's blessed is the man who meditates in the law of God day and night there are some things in the word of God as Peter says of Paul's writing hard to be understood more than once this week I've come down to my wife or one time particularly I thought of going down but I said honey I said I'm ready to throw in the towel I said I can't seem to crack the nut of that prayer of Paul's it's beyond me it baffles me and having spent hours on words and tracing them out through the scriptures and getting them getting the grammar and laboring and prayer and going to my knees and back to the desk I felt Lord it's beyond me I can't grasp it I want to quit I want to take something that's easier I know what mental laziness is

34:36 I know what that aversion to close thought is I'm not scolding you as one who's exempt from it that's what I have to wrestle with and if I don't wrestle with it you'll see it in my preaching those of you who have any discernment no no together we must labor we must wrestle we must think we must in the words of the first commandment or the summation of the first commandment love the Lord our God not only with all the heart but with all the mind oh may God send saving virtue to our minds this morning that we may be careful that we'll not cause them to atrophy by just reading the funny page and reading the sports page and watching the seven o'clock news and never thinking ah but you say I'm a housewife how in the world can I sit I can't sit down and read John Owen ah no but my dear housewife listen can't you take this prayer just prop your New Testament up above your sink and when you're doing your morning dishes or if you're blessed with one of those built in maids called a dishwasher then maybe you ought to just take a couple of minutes that you might normally have your hands in the dish pan and look at this prayer hope of his calling riches of the glory of his inheritance fix the words in your mind in those times when the mind is not occupied pushing the ironing across the ironing board making up the beds the hands are occupied but the mind is free

36:04 hope of his calling Lord what does that mean hope what is biblical hope think of any verses that come to mind get the mind focusing all of its faculties upon that word of God and then lifting up your heart Lord light light light Lord give illumination that's what I'm talking about I'm trying to be intensely practical this morning without this I'm not going to be able to do anything I doubt that we're going to receive much light or much blessing so I leave you then with those two very fundamental applications of this principle number one since these are spiritual things we must with Paul learn to cultivate dependence on the spirit to open them to us but since though they are spiritual they come to the understanding and their power is felt in the life only as they come through the understanding we must be prepared to think about them to think hard and long and trust the Holy Spirit to open up the truth of the word of God to us isn't it true dear ones that this is one of the great curses in our day that we just plain don't want to think isn't it anybody here that loves to wrestle with things in your mind I find everything in my flesh cringes against it once in a while you sit down and God will open something up to where I almost feel like I'm a secretary just taking down the thoughts that the spirit of God illuminates from the page of scripture and I'm almost tempted to say

The Blessings of Spirit-Illuminated Study and Worship

37:33 Lord can I have it like that all the time can I have it like that all the time that wouldn't be good for me because then I couldn't sympathize with you who are sitting out there sometimes and you can be surprised what I can see I can almost hear some of you sitting there someday saying Lord what in the world is he saying Lord what's he driving at I can see the look and your brow's all screwed up and you just well I know what that is we're in this situation together but oh wonder of wonders when we've gathered together to worship and God through the spirit and the labors of his servant has been pleased to open up a portion of the word and the preacher's done his job of study and preparation and organization and laid it out and then as he's giving it out to the people of God a prayerful people dependent upon the spirit sitting there intense in their thoughts and the spirit of God is giving the same light to them and then the mind and heart of the preacher and the people are fused together in the sense that the presence of the spirit of truth and light and understanding has given a new sight of the glory of Christ a new understanding of some facet of the privileges that are ours in Christ and what's the result we sit there and we worship we want to leave these walls to serve him with greater fervency to follow him with greater zeal why? why? why? why?

38:56 why? why? why? why?

38:57 why? why? why? why?

38:57 why? why? why? why?

38:57 why? why? why? why?

38:57 why? why? why? why?

38:58 why? why? why? why?

39:01 why? why? why? why?

39:02 why? why? why? why?

39:03 why? why? why? Why?

39:05 Why? the only other alternative to this and I will take just a minute to mention is to always be reverting to heathen concepts to get the people of God to do something and many evangelical churches are like heathen religions in that they seek to move the people of God to the performance of duty how? by rubbing their conscience raw with the presentation of their duties. Do this, do this, do this, don't do this, don't do this, do this, do this, do this, do this, until you've got a bunch of wooden little wooden soldier people, everyone regimented, going about doing his thing to keep, as it were, the evangelical popes happy with their pronouncements.

39:46 That's not biblical Christianity.

39:49 Rather, the vision of biblical Christianity is that we gather to have some new vision and sight of all that God has conferred upon us in Christ and then God says, because you have this and you are that, be this and be that. And then we go out desirous to be that and to do that. Not because our conscience has been rubbed raw, but because the heart has been suffused with a new vision of the glory and the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why when Paul wants to tell husbands to shape up, he takes them where? To the cross.

40:27 And says, Christ loves. The church gave himself for it. And he says, you husband, if you sit down in front of the cross for a while and don't get up and say, I've got to love my wife more faithfully, there's something wrong with you. That's how the child of God is moved.

40:41 You see it? I hope that looking at the principle this morning will open up many facets of the print of the word of God because you'll find this wherever you go, particularly in the epistles of the Apostle Paul. Well, let's pray.

Concluding Prayer

40:59 Oh God, our Father, how can we ever thank you enough? That you have moved to us in grace. We thank you that this is the pattern continually that you ever move to us in grace, eliciting, drawing from us the response of love and obedience based upon that love. Oh, we ask that you would open up to us now these three things that we shall be studying in the weeks ahead and God, may they have their proper effect in our lives.

41:33 May we indeed love you and serve you more fervently because we understand more fully the hope of our calling, the riches of the glory of your inheritance in the saints and the exceeding greatness of your power to us who are to believe. We ask, Lord, that you would be merciful to those who cannot know because they are yet in their sins. Oh, be pleased to create in them a longing to have spiritual life. Oh God, we pray that you will draw them to your dear Son who is able and willing to open the eyes of all the poor blind sinners who look to him and to him alone. Dismiss us now with your blessing and be with us the remainder of this day. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.