well let us turn to God's Word
once again and the chapter that we read Ephesians chapter 1 and
directing you for our text this morning to the words that we
have here verses 15 16 and 17 in Ephesians 1 verses 15, 16, and 17. Paul writes, Wherefore I also,
after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto
all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention
of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him. This is really the opening
part of the prayer of the Apostle. The prayer really runs right
through to the end of the chapter at verse 23 and you may observe
it is a very long sentence that we have according to the punctuation
in our authorized version. the sentence begins with those
words in verse 15 where for I also after I heard of your faith in
the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints cease not to give
thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers and so he
prays right through to those words at verse 23 concerning
Christ and his body the fullness of him that filleth all in all
With regards to the chapter, to say a little with regards
to the context here and the matter that precedes the words of our
text this morning, I'm sure you're familiar. with what Paul is saying
here. He as usual begins of course
with his words of greetings to the church of the Ephesians there
in the opening two verses. And then from verse 3 through
14 he speaks of the great blessings of salvation and speaks of those
blessings in terms of the doctrine of God the doctrine of the Trinity,
it's a Trinitarian salvation and we've observed in times past
something of the of the content of those verses from 3 through
14 in verses 3 to 6 we read of the great eternal purpose of
the Father, that's one sentence and then verses 7 to 12 we have
another sentence in which he speaks of that great work of
redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ as he comes to accomplish
that work that the Father had given him to do in the eternal
covenant and then in verses 13 and 14 we have a shorter sentence
in which he speaks of the blessed sealings of the Holy Spirit three
sentences and then we come to this final part of the chapter
from the 15th verse in which we have Paul's prayer. And he prays that they might
be increased in wisdom and in the knowledge of God in their
experience, that they might come to know all those blessings that
he has been speaking of in the previous parts of the chapter. And as we turn this morning to
the verses that I've read, in verses 15, 16 and 17, I simply
want to say something with regards to the object of his prayer. The object of his prayer, as
we see it there at the beginning of verse 17, that the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The
one addressed then here in the first part of the 17th verse
is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory. But before we come to consider
that object of prayer. I want to say something with
regards to the obligation and the importance of praying because
Paul is one who very much demonstrates to us the place that prayer must
play in the lives of the people of God. Paul was very much a
man of prayer himself Remember when in Acts chapter 9 we have
the record of how the Lord meets with him there outside the gate
at Damascus and really he's brought then to saving faith in the Lord
Jesus. Although he was a persecutor
of the Christians, He was a man obviously much troubled in his
own soul. That was evident at the martyrdom
of Stephen back in Acts chapter 7. It seems there that that man,
Saul of Tarsus, observed the death of that first Christian
martyr. He was troubled. He's kicking
against the pricks. His conscience is goading him.
And there at Damascus, how the Lord confronts him, and he's
blinded and he's taken into the city. And then one of the Lord's
disciples, Ananias, he's sent to the place where this man Saul
is, in the street called Straight, to anoint his eyes, that he might
have his sight restored, because he's going to be a servant of
Christ. He's going to preach the gospel,
even to the Gentiles. And the assurance that's given
to Ananias that this is a real convert is the matter of prayer. There, in Acts 9, 11, the angel
says to Ananias concerning Saul, Behold, he prayeth. Behold, he
prayeth. He had prayed many times, doubtless,
or thought he had prayed when he was a Pharisee. when he was such a self-righteous
man he thought he said his prayers I'm sure he rested in what he
thought were real prayers but he never really prayed at all
until the Lord dealt with him and here is the mark of his real
conversion he is now really and truly a man of prayer and not
surprisingly then when he is writing in these various epistles,
how many times do we find him turning to prayer? As I say here
at the end of this first chapter we have a prayer of the Apostle,
we have another prayer later in chapter 3 at verse 14 and
the following verses to 21 and then again when he's writing
to the Church of the Philippians In Philippians chapter 1 at verse
8 through 11 we find him praying right into the Colossians in
chapter 1 and there at verses 9 through 12 we have again another
record of one of the prayers of the Apostle. And then also
in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verses 11 and 12 he addresses
these believers in these different churches but as he's addressing
them and teaching them and exhorting them at times he cannot help
himself he must pray for them and of course when we come to
the practical part of the epistles the closing sections of these
various epistles where we have the practical aspect we find
Paul many times exhorting all these believers to be men and
women of prayer and he desires a part in their prayers. We see
it here in the last chapter having spoken of the Christian's armour
There at verse 18 he says, praying always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints and for me. Oh, he wants them to pray for
him. That utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth
boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. for which I am
an ambassador in Bonsadar, that therein I may speak boldly, as
I ought to speak." He's so dependent upon their prayers. Prayer is
so central to the accomplishment of God's eternal purpose and
His decree. And is it not interesting that
here in this chapter we have those remarkable verses from
verse 3 through 14 in which we see how central God's great predestinarian
purpose is in that whole section and then we come to prayer. This
is how God accomplishes His eternal election of sinners. Prayer is
God's ordinance. We sang it just now, prayer was
appointed to confine. the blessings God designs to
give. Long as they live should Christians
pray for only whilst they pray they live. God says I will yet
for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for
them. Oh God will do it. He will increase
them with men as a flock but they must inquire of Him. He
will be inquired of. He commands His people that they
come and ask in all confidence, ask me of things to come concerning
my sons, he says, and concerning the work of my hands, command
ye me. Well, who is the God that is
to be addressed in these prayers? The one addressed here in this
17th verse, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory. We come then to consider these
verses, and particularly what we have here at the beginning
of verse 17. And I want to divide the subject
matter into two parts. First of all, to consider God
in covenant, and then God through the Lord Jesus Christ. First
of all, God in covenants. This is a very striking form
of address that we have, as Paul tells them that he cannot but
pray for them. He cannot cease to give thanks.
He cannot help but make mention of them in his prayers. And then
he speaks of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. what a striking expression the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory we know that
in the in the Godhead there are three persons, we are Trinitarians
we believe that God is Father, Son and Holy Ghost and those
are co-equal and they are co-eternal persons it's a mystery it's a
great mystery the doctrine of God the first and all and the
greatest of all the mysteries there are three persons but there
is but one living and true God and as I said they are co-equal
as they are co-eternal there's no superiority no inferiority
there's no No one of the three persons is
in any way more God than the other. They are equal. But when we come to the Bible
and we see what's recorded here concerning the unfolding of God's
purpose of salvation, the covenant of grace, we discover how the
Father is the one who sustains the majesty and glory of Deity. and the co-equal and co-eternal
Son becomes the servant of God. It is the second person in the
Godhead, it is God the Son who humbles himself and takes to
himself a true human nature, the great mystery of the incarnation. Back in verse 3 we read, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
it's the purpose of the Father that he is speaking of and of
course we sang of it in our opening hymn in what was it hymn is it 73 Jesus we bless thy father's
name thy God and ours are both the same whatever heavenly blessings
from his throne flow down to sinners through his Son it is
evident that that hymn of Isaac Watts is based on what we have
here in these opening verses of this particular epistle it
is God the Father who has purpose the salvation. It is God the
Son who comes to procure that salvation. It is God the Holy
Spirit who will apply that salvation. And we see it as we go through
those three sentences that I remarked on in that opening part of the
epistle. But it is the Son then who becomes
the servant of God. God says, Behold My servant whom
I uphold, Mine elect in whom My soul delighteth, I have put
My Spirit upon him. He is the Anointed One. He is
the Messiah, the Christ of God. And again in Isaiah 53, 11, By
His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many. Christ is that righteous servant.
why He has come, He has fulfilled all righteousness, He has honoured
the Lord, magnified the Lord, lived a life of complete obedience
to every commandment, and then His obedience extends even to
the death of the cross. He doesn't just honour the Lord
in terms of precept, but also with respect to all its commandments,
and the transgression of them by those whom He has come to
save. We all remember the language of Philippians 2 concerning Christ
being in the form of God. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him
the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, and being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient
unto the death of the cross. These are the great truths concerning
salvation. and as Christ is the shorty of
his people and dying as their substitute on the other hand
the Father is that one who represents the Godhead and that's what we
see here the God of our Lord Jesus Christ it's the same expression
really very similar to what we have back in verse 3 the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here in the text this
morning it's the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory and all of that glory of God
is revealed to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and revealed
to us by the Holy Spirit. This is Paul's prayer isn't it?
That this God may give unto you, He says, the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of Him. That's the prayer that He's made.
That's the particular petition that we have. And all that glory
then is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ, but it's revealed
to us by the Holy Spirit. We know that no man hath seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Christ
is the image of the invisible God. We can know nothing at all
of God apart from and outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. and how, in the course of his
ministry, what is the Lord doing? He's revealing himself to those
whom he has chosen to be his disciples. Remember the language
of Philip there in John 14, when he makes a request to the Lord. Verse 8, Philip saith unto him,
Lord show us the Father, and it suffitheth us. Jesus said
unto him, Have I been so long time with you? And yet hast thou
not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And thou sayest thou then, Show
us the Father. Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself. But the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. Believe me. that I am in the
Father and the Father in me or else believe me for the very
works sake Christ must be about his Father's business Christ
must finish that work that the Father has given him to do and
this is what Philip and the others have been witnessing and it's
a revelation of God no man knoweth the Son but the Father neither
knoweth any man the Father save the Son and He to whom the Son
will reveal Him. Oh, in the Lord Jesus Christ
in His person, and in that work that we see Him accomplishing,
as it's recorded for us throughout the fourfold Gospel, we have
a remarkable revelation of God, the full, the final revelation
in these last days God has spoken unto us by His Son. Here the whole deity is known,
nor dares a creature guess, which of the glories bright is shone,
the justice or the grace. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. That's all we see in the Lord
Jesus. We see that God is a just God, and yet God is the justifier
of him, that believer. Oh, what a revelation! God's
glory, then, is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. And what is
being asked here of the Apostle? He asks the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, to give that spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him. This is all the truth
that God has to show to us. Remember Jacob there at Peniel
in Genesis 32, not worthy of the least of God's favours, he
says, and all the truth that he has shown unto me, or that
God might show us this great truth then concerning that that
is revealed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The revelation is in Christ, but He comes by the ministry
of the Holy Ghost. He comes to testify of the Lord
Jesus. And here again in the text, it's
the Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of Him. here surely refers to the Holy
Spirit. I know in our authorized version
the letter S is in the lower case. It should be a capital.
It's a Trinitarian verse. All that has gone before is Trinitarian.
And in this verse, as Paul comes to pray, we see that same truth
of the doctrine of God. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit It is the Spirit who comes. And
what is the Spirit's work? Christ says He shall not speak
of Himself. He doesn't come, though He be
God, equal to the Father, equal to the Son. The Spirit doesn't
come in this day of the Gospel to speak of Himself. He shall glorify Me, says Christ,
for He shall take of Mine and shall show it unto you all that
blessed ministry of the Spirit here is Paul then and he's praying
and he's praying to God in terms of this covenant the covenant
of grace and all the glory belongs unto God all the glory is for
God when we come to pray Isn't that to be a primary concern? In all our prayers, we seek first
and foremost the honor and glory of God. It says, doesn't it,
that He is the Father of glory. He is the Father of glory. And so when we pray, what does
the Lord advise, what does the Lord command? He says, When ye
pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name. Or the very first petition when
we come before God with our prayers is that His name be hallowed.
His name is a holy name. And we come before Him as those
who are sinners and above all things we desire the honor of
His name. the glory of that name, the only
name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. All the great purpose of salvation
is ultimately to the glory of God. When we come to the end
of those three remarkable chapters in Romans 9, 10 and 11, remember
what Paul says right at the end of that tremendous section for
of him and through him and to him be glory forever and ever
all is for the glory of God and there are verses that we have
in first Corinthians 15 and I must confess I've stumbled over these
words sometimes but when we see the great purpose of God in salvation
and how God the Son comes as the servant the Father is the
one who is representing deity in the covenant and so when we
come to those words in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 24 Paul says then cometh the end
when he that is Christ shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule
and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath
put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. For he that hath put all things
under his feet for he hath put all things under his feet. But
when he saith, All things are put under him, it is manifest
that he is accepted which did put all things under him. And
when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son
also himself be subject unto him that put all things under
him, that God may be all in all. And I stumbled here because I
thought, is it suggesting that the Son in some way is inferior
to the Father. And that's heresy. Because God
is three persons and they're equal as they're co-eternal.
There's no inferiority in the Godhead. There's equality between
all those three divine persons. But what is Paul saying here?
Well, he's speaking of the outworking of the covenant. And in that
covenant, of course, the Son comes to accomplish the will
of the Father, that all glory may belong to God, to God in
all the fullness of His being, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And so Paul's prayer here, as
he comes before God and prays for these believers at Ephesus,
and prays really for all believers in all the churches of the Lord
Jesus Christ because this is part of God's word to us here
at Portsmouth even today what is Paul desiring? he is
desiring ultimately that God be glorified it's the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory and it's God always through the
Son and so to say something in the second place with regards
to God through the Son as I said at the beginning we
can only know God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ He is the
Word of God and the significance of that name that is given to
the Son Words are used to explain things, to reveal things. And it is through the Son that
God declares Himself, reveals Himself. In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by Him.
Without Him was not anything made that was made. You know
the opening verses there in the Gospel according to Saint John. And then he goes on, doesn't
he, and the Word was made flesh. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. All the revelation is in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time,
he goes on. the only begotten Son which is
in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him the revelation then of God is
always through the Son and here isn't the Apostle coming
to God in terms of the Lord Jesus Christ that one who is the only
mediator Now, I don't want you to mistake me, we can pray to
each of the persons in the Godhead. It is not improper for us to
address God, the Holy Spirit, in prayer. We can pray to the
Spirit of God. We see it in the Song of Solomon,
don't we? Awake, O north wind, and come
thou south. blow upon my garden that the
spices thereof may flow out. Isn't that a prayer to the Holy
Ghost? We see it again in the language
of Ezekiel 37. Remember the vision of the valley
of the dry bones and it represents Israel and they're taken into
captivity and the imagery is that of a great battlefield and
here are the children of Israel and they've suffered a terrible
defeat they've been literally destroyed, taken away into exile
languishing there in captivity but God is going to restore them
and that's the vision and the Prophet witnesses these bones
coming together all this battlefield full of dead men and it's an awful sight to behold
but God is the God of wonders and he brings the bones together
and they're covered in sinews and in flesh but there's no life
in them and then the prophet is commanded in verse 9 prophesy
unto the winds prophesy son of man and say to the wind, Thus saith
the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe
upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded
me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood
up upon their feet, an exceeding great army." What is he doing
here? He's prophesying to the wind,
or as the margin says, to the breath. In fact, the word that's
used is the Hebrew with Ruach and it can be translated three
ways it can be translated as wind or breath or spirit he is
speaking to the Spirit of God he is speaking to God the Holy
Ghost just as there in the Song of Solomon the church is speaking
to God the Holy Ghost when she says come thou wind awake O north
wind and come and blow upon my God. It is not improper for us
to address God the Holy Spirit. He is God and we can pray to
Him. And of course we can pray to
God the Son. We see it in the Gospels, don't
we? There are those who address Him and address Him as God. They
say, Lord, save me, Lord, help me. Think of Peter, think of
the Canaanitish woman. Those simple prayers that are
uttered, that the Lord would help, that the Lord would save.
It's not improper to pray to the Son, and when we read of
Stephen, that first martyr, do we not see Stephen, even in dying,
addressing the Lord Jesus Christ in his prayer, there in Acts
17.59? We're told how they stoned Stephen,
calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. How did Stephen call upon God? He called upon God by saying,
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. We can pray to all of the persons,
but we think normally in terms of coming and addressing the
Father as we have it here in chapter 2 and verse 18. Through
Him, that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. We both, be we
Jew or be we Gentile, we both have access by one Spirit unto
the Father. Through the Lord Jesus Christ,
through His mediation, by that gracious ministry of God the
Holy Spirit inditing our prayers we have access and we come and
we meet with the Father all that is the normal way of our praying we come through the Lord Jesus
Christ we look to Him as the only mediator we can only know
God in Christ and we can only come to God through the Lord
Jesus Christ one God, one mediator between God and man the man Christ
Jesus the mystery of godliness God manifest in the flesh and
what does the Lord Jesus Christ do well as the mediator he reveals
God to sinners and that's what we have at the end of the verse
the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him and Paul knows what he's talking
about because he had known such a revelation remember what he
says in Galatians 1 he pleased God who separated me from my
mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal his son in
me well what do we know of that that inward revelation that revealing
of Christ to us Christ becoming so real that we see the wonder
of who He is, His person, the wonder of what He has done, the
wonder of His life and His death and His resurrection, His ascension,
the wonder now of His session there in heavenly glory, far
above all principality and power and might and dominion and every
name that is named, not only in this world but also in that
which is to come. Are we speaking there in verse
21 of the Lord Jesus in His ascension? in His glory. But what do we
know as God revealed these precious truths to us concerning the man
Christ Jesus? Christ is the One who reveals
God to sinners. In these last days God has spoken
unto us by His Son. The very One who was there in
the creation of all things there at the beginning and that one
who ultimately the believer will see in all the glories of heaven
Christ reveals God and Christ of course receives sinners and
Christ represents sinners when he is risen from the dead
he says to Mary doesn't I ascend unto my father and your father
and to my God and your God. No, it's the same God. But what a relationship is that
that Christ has, and that that believers share with God in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And now He's that one who is
able to save them to the uttermost, we're told, that come unto God
by Him. For He ever liveth to make intercession
for them. It is God known in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the one that Paul comes
to address here at the beginning of his prayer. He must pray. He cannot but pray. He is a man
of prayer. And so he tells them, Wherefore
I also, after I heard of your faith, in the Lord Jesus, and
love unto all the saints. Cease not to give thanks for
you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the gods of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. As the
Lord will, I trust that we might go on this evening to look at
the closing part of that 17th verse more closely. But all that we might know this
one, whom the Apostle is addressing, even the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory. Amen.