May God be pleased to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let's turn to the
Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, the first chapter, and we'll
read verse 18. The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians,
chapter one, and reading verse 18. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of his
calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints. This was the prayer of the Apostle
Paul. as he tells us in the 16th verse,
he ceases not to give thanks for you, making mention of you
in my prayers. He was concerned for the Ephesian
church that they might be established in the truth of God. And it's quite clear, therefore,
that we should not consider that when the Lord graciously comes
and produces that life within so that we are born again of
the Spirit of God, that things do not stand still, but there
is a continual desire and a continual learning the great truths and
the depths which are contained in the Word of God. Because the Apostle, he addresses
this to the saints which are Ephesus and to the faithful in
Christ Jesus. So we should be thankful that
we have words like this in this chapter to encourage us today
to seek for a better and a greater and a more wonderful understanding
of the truth of God. It is a sad position which exists
that people tend to stagnate in the things of God. There's
no real spiritual growth. There's almost a standing still. And there's not the evidence
of God's revelation to them in the truth of God and in the glorious
precepts of the gospel. You know, I know I've reminded
you before, but I'll just tell you again of that occasion one
Christmas in St Lucia when we'd finished our lunch on the Lord's
Day and we all sat round in a circle and the pastor said, well, I
think it would be a good idea if we went round in a circle
and everyone spoke of the things that God had done for them, that
God had revealed to them in the year past. Well, it was a very
interesting and profitable occasion. And I often think that would
be a really good exercise for us sometimes to just sit still
and to think of the things that God has revealed to our spiritual
understanding and the great truths of the gospel and the things
that he has done and directed us in, in the things in providence. Because these things are an encouragement
to us to realize that God is dealing with us, and that by
his grace we are growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, and that spiritual life is a continual
growth, it's not something which just stops and then there's nothing
further. And so we see the need there
is to know that we are continually being blessed by our God. Now of course there are many
many things in this world to distract us and we live in a
more and more material world where of course there are many
many more things to distract us from the truth of God and
to occupy our minds and our hands and our feet but yet The great
need is for our souls to be blessed, for our souls to prosper. In another little epistle that
Paul wrote to the Colossians, he says this in the first chapter
of the ninth verse, he says, For this cause we also, since
the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire
that ye might be filled the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding." And the Apostle puts his finger right
on the need there is today, the need for spiritual understanding. People today are very ignorant
of the great doctrines contained in the Word of God. They know
perhaps something of the the accounts which occur in the Old
Testament and the New Testament, those things which are attracted
to their natural mind. But it is a wonderful blessing
if the Spirit of God directs us to the need we have of a spiritual
understanding. That's really what the Apostle
is directing us today through this letter to the Ephesians. And therefore this verse, 18th
verse, it comes more or less in the middle of, interestingly
enough, what is the longest sentence in the Bible. And the sentence
begins in verse 13 and goes right through to verse 23. So it's
just one continual sentence. But in the middle, we come to
these words. the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his
calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints." Well, I'm sure we can appreciate that in just
a few words, there is really a great depth. And as we're told
that the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, And if we
are born again of the Spirit of God, we do possess sight. We do possess heavenly sight,
because we have been granted that true sight. Whereas we were
blind, Now we see, God has enlightened our eyes, and how wonderful it
is in our lives if the Holy Spirit has enlightened our eyes, so
that we are not still in a state of darkness, but we're in a state
where the light has shone into our hearts. Now, only you before
God can know whether that is true, whether you are now, by
the grace of God, blessed with heavenly light, or whether you
are still in darkness. Now perhaps it might be more
correct to say you won't realise you're still in darkness until
the Blessed Spirit moves and quickens you into the glorious
light of the everlasting Gospel. And then you will realise that
you have passed from darkness to light and from death to life. And what a wonderful, glorious
blessing it is. And how vitally important it
is that all of us are blessed with this great favour. And if
it is so, then may we be on the stretch after God. And may we
be on the stretch seeking that we may have a greater and more
wonderful understanding of the truth contained in the Word of
God. And sometimes we might think,
well this of course just refers to the New Testament. Of course
it doesn't, because we read the very pleasing account in the
days of Ezra and Nehemiah. You may remember that was when
they were coming back from or had come back from being captives
in Babylon for those 70 years and it was a very dark time. And yet there was a time then
when they came back in Jerusalem and it was Ezra and Nehemiah's
desire that they might know the truth of God and the Holy Spirit
moved them. And we're told that Ezra, in
the 8th chapter of Nehemiah, he said, Ezra blessed the Lord,
the great God, and all the people answered, Amen. It's a good thing,
isn't it, to answer Amen to the truth of God, to acknowledge
how important it is. And they answered, Amen, Amen.
They were lifting up their hands, and they bowed their heads and
worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. And then
we have a list of 12 people, Jeshua, Benai, Sherebiah, Jamin,
Aqir, Shabbatiah, Hodeidah, Masiah, Ketilah, Azariah, Jezebel, Hanan,
Petaliah, and the Levites. And what did they do? They caused
the people to understand the law. And the people stood in
their place. So they read in the book of the
law of God distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to
understand the reading. Now that was a wonderful desire,
a wonderful act, and surely it's no different today. As here Ezra was reading the
Word of God, and of course it would have been principally the
Law of Moses, the first five books in the Bible. And of course
there is so much truth in those first five books that there,
these twelve people plus the Levites were to give the people
understanding. Well, it's important for us today
to desire that we might have a spiritual understanding of
the truth of God. It's not a question of just coming
to chapel and ticking the box and going home and say, well,
I've done my duty. It's not that at all. The reality
is that we come to chapel to hear the Word of God preached
and to gain spiritual understanding. It would be, again, a wonderful
exercise, wouldn't it? After every sermon, you thought,
well, what have I learned today? What have I been blessed to understand
today? What has the Lord revealed to
me today? We don't want to be just concerned
about getting through the service and then going home to have dinner.
We want to realise that here is a place for spiritual food.
And that food, if we receive it from God, will do us eternal
good, not just something which will pass away. And therefore,
the Apostle recognising under the Spirit of God the great importance
of such truths as are spoken in these verses we have before
us. And at the commencement of this
long sentence, the Apostle says, 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." That in itself is a very full statement,
isn't it? And how it should be our concern
and prayer that indeed the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give unto us the spirit of wisdom, and
that means spiritual wisdom. And the Word of God tells us
that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's
a great blessing, therefore, if the Holy Spirit has produced
in our heart that godly fear. And that godly fear really means
to turn away from those things which are wrong and to turn to
those things which are right. That means to do those things
which are God-honouring and which are God-glorifying. That is indeed
being found with this wonderful favour of the Spirit of Wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Well, the knowledge of
the Saviour, the knowledge of God the Father, the knowledge
of the Holy Spirit is, to the believer, revelation. It's not
something that you and I can just discern with our natural
intellect. Sadly, there are many so-called
Christians today who try and discern the great truth of God
with their natural intellect. But it is the Spirit of God that
reveals the great truths of God to our souls. And when we receive
those revelations, it has a blessed effect. We rejoice in the goodness
of God, that he's revealed these things unto us. Indeed, as we
were in that condition, in that spiritual state of being like
a little child with not very much knowledge, and then to have
the evidence that the blessed Lord has given us a greater understanding,
a great understanding in the great truth of God. Well, this
morning, may we be found in this position that the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him has been given to us. The great need we have is a greater
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's so important, of course,
to have a knowledge, but we need to have a greater knowledge.
And if we are to be amongst those who spiritually grow, and often
perhaps that prayer is put up that we might grow in grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and
it's a good prayer and it's an important prayer, but I sometimes
if we really understand what we're praying for, and whether
we really have a desire for it. Because when the Lord works these
things out, it's often when we're found walking a difficult path. It's often when things appear
to be against us. It doesn't mean to say they are
against us, because Jacob thought all things were against him but
they weren't. They were all working together for good. So we should
not therefore consider that God is against us when things appear
to be going contrary. It may be that the Lord is in
that path teaching us and instructing us. and the truth of God is,
the more you and I, by the Spirit of God, are shown the sinfulness
of our heart, the evil that exists within, something that we don't
like to see, we don't like to admit. But when the Spirit of
God condemns us and reveals such truths to our heart, it will
lead us then far more positively to seek after the knowledge of
Christ and to realise the wonder of His forgiveness, the great
act it was of the Saviour to come and to die upon Calvary's
cross in order to redeem our souls and to forgive all our
enormous sins. The Apostle in this chapter that
we read He speaks about those who are called, and we'll come
on to that in a moment. He says, to the praise of the
glory of His grace where He has made us accepted in the Beloved,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of His grace. What a wonderful
statement that is, isn't it? How full it is. And it is redemption. We are redeemed only through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if the Spirit of God gives
us a right understanding of this, it's revelation by the Holy Spirit,
and it will do our souls good, and we shall thank God for the
understanding that he's given us to realise the importance
of it. Because if we are blessed with
this redemption through his blood, it means that our sins have been
forgiven. according to the riches of his
grace, it is that you and I receive such unmerited favour to be blessed
with this great gift of this redemption and forgiveness of
sins. And we have to concur with the
Apostle when he says, wherein he hath abounded to warn us in
all wisdom and prudence. When the Lord gives us this spiritual
understanding, does he not abound toward us in showing us, revering
Christ to our souls as our great Redeemer, the one who has come
to save our souls. And so, what a blessing it would
be this morning if we have this spiritual understanding, the
eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know
what is the hope of his calling. Well, the hope of his calling,
when God calls a person and God calls every child of God, there
are no exceptions. And if you have not received
a call from the Spirit of God, you have to realise that you
are in great need. You need to have received the
call from God. Now that call comes, as you know
I've said on many occasions, in different ways. But one thing
is clear, when that call comes, It has this effect. Our eyes
are opened. They're not left in a blind condition. The calling has the effect of
revealing ourselves as sinners of the earth. There's a line in the hymn which
says, a sinner is a holy thing. That means a sinner revealed
so by the Spirit of God, because people will say they're sinners,
glibly. Most people in the world will
say they've sinned here and there. But when you and I are convicted
by the Holy Spirit of God that we have sinned against a holy
God, that's when we have the evidence that the Spirit of God
has called us, called us to know what we are, called us to see
how bad we are, not how good we are. You ask the man in the
street what he's like, he'll say, well I'm quite a good person,
I do this and I do that. When the Spirit of God works
in our hearts, we lose sight of that which is good, and all
we see is that which is bad. And as we grow in grace, as we
have a greater understanding of our spiritual state, we realise
more and more of our sinful condition. We see sins that we never saw
before. We realise that things we have
done or are doing are sinful and we should not continue with
them, whereas we did not realise the depth of sin before. Well, it's a wonderful blessing.
It's not a very comfortable thing to our nature, but it's a wonderful
evidence of God's work in our souls when he shows to us those
sins which we perhaps weren't aware of, those sins perhaps
which we try to hide and pretend they weren't sin. Well, when
God comes and calls, there's a beginning of that evidence,
and the evidence of that light shining into our heart, this
enlightenment, it gets further and further. What it really means
is this, the light of God gets stronger and stronger, and it
shines farther and farther into our heart. And so it's not just
surface sins which attract our attention. We then see that right
inside our heart are those evil sins of pride, and arrogance,
and evil hatred, and jealousy. And they're all there. The Lord
reveals them, that's one by one. And it's the blessing of God.
And it's the effect of his calling being worked out. And it shows
to us that we do possess the life of God in our souls. What is it? It's to know what
is the hope of our calling. We realise then that religion
is something which is alive. It's not something which is dead.
True religion affects our lives. It doesn't affect our life on
one day. And then we say, well, I was
converted on that day, and that's what it was. And then you just
carry on in your old life and your sinful way. No, the power
and spirit of God produces a change, a desire to seek after holiness. And what a blessing it is when
the Lord gives us a spiritual understanding to appreciate the
need for these things. This is not of the flesh. This
is of the Spirit, but we can bless God and rejoice in the
truth of these things, if the Lord has come and given us, therefore,
such an understanding. You know, the Word of God is
full with desires, and in the 119th Psalm, it's a very beautiful
Psalm, as I'm sure, I hope you know, and four times in that
long Psalm, of the psalmist asks this, give me understanding. I wonder this morning how many
of us have prayed that prayer. Give me understanding. Understanding
of myself. Understanding of how bad I am. Understanding of how great the
mercy of God is. Understanding of how great the
grace of God is. realising unmerited favour, and
realising how great the love of God is. Give me understanding. You know, we surely desire to
be amongst those who do follow the Word of God. The tragedy
is, we don't follow it very closely. No, we are almost like the Apostle
Peter, who followed afar off. And you know the outcome. Of
course the effect of that was that the Apostle Peter left to
himself, he denied his Lord those three times. So we don't want
to be left, do we, to ourselves. We don't want to be found following
afar off. We want to be found near to the
Saviour. So, to pray such a prayer is
a good prayer. Give me understanding. It's a very broad word, isn't
it? It's a very broad prayer. But you see, we can pray that
prayer knowing that the Lord will suitably fit it to our case
and give us that understanding that we need. The Lord will never
reveal everything to us. at one time. In fact, we should
never understand everything this side of glory. But it is a good
thing to be established in the truth of God. And you see, this
spiritual understanding will stand us in good stead. It will
stand us in good stead when we have to speak to the people who
don't know the things of God. Often we may be afraid, often
we may be embarrassed, because we do not have a sufficient understanding
to be able to speak to those who know nothing of the things
of God. But you see, if we pray for this
prayer, give me understanding, you see the Lord graciously equips
us, equips us with this wonderful knowledge. And it is important
that we do desire to be equipped in the things of God, that we
do have a right understanding so that in our daily life we
may honour the Lord. We've read, haven't we, we've
meditated on recently the first few verses in the Sermon on the
Mount, in the 5th of Matthew, and there it's very clearly set
before us that God's people are the light in the world. And God's
people are also salt in the world. Well, we're not light and salt
if we lack knowledge, are we? If we lack understanding, we
should therefore seek that we might be and have a good evidence
and a good testimony as you and I walk in the world, before those
we meet day by night, It's not just those who we know will receive
the truth of God, it's those who we know will not receive
the truth of God. As we read in the book of Isaiah,
ye are my witnesses, and how true it is. And how we need,
therefore, to be continually praying such a prayer as this,
that the Lord will give us understanding, spiritual understanding. Now if we are therefore amongst
those who know the hope of this calling, and this calling will
direct us not only to ourselves, but it will direct us to the
need we have of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only one who can
save us, the only one who can deliver us from the wrath to
come. I believe the effect of the work
of God, the work of his grace in our hearts, is to make us
tremble because of our sin. We'll have that realisation that
we are guilty before a holy God. that we deserve condemnation,
we deserve to be cut off, we deserve to be cast into hell. Now if you're still thinking,
well I'm not too bad and I hope it will be alright in the end,
you're a long way short. Yes, you're a long way short.
You need to have the Spirit's work which reveals to us our
true state, at least in measure, before a holy God and the great
need we have therefore of a saviour, so that we may not tremble when
we think of standing before a holy God, which all of us of course
will have to do, and it's good if it has made you tremble to
think, what shall I say when I come to that position to stand
before a holy God on that great day of judgement? None of us
will be excused, will we? No one in this world will be
excused. Everyone will be there to give
an account of the things done in the flesh. Now if you and
I are relying on our own righteousness, there will be no hope for us.
But if we're relying upon what Christ has done, his great and
glorious finished work, and to have the evidence that he's given
us his righteousness, then it will be well with our souls,
and we then will not have to fear that great and terrible
day of judgement, because we will have the evidence that the
Lord Jesus Christ has died to atone for our sins, and that
he has washed them all away in the fountain of his most precious
blood. Now, this is the blessing of
spiritual understanding. And the blessing of spiritual
understanding produces the assurance in the heart, because the work
of God, the work of His grace is traced out, and we have the
evidence of that work within, that the Lord Jesus Christ has
died for us in that personal way. And it's not just a general
assent to the things of God. is to have this personal evidence
that the Lord Jesus Christ, glory be to God, has come into this
world to die that we might be saved, delivered from all our
sins, and to know that the Lord Jesus Christ gloriously came
and paid the price so that we are eternally saved. understanding,
spiritual understanding. My friends, we should strive
for it. Many people today seem to turn away from the desire
of assurance. But it's to be sought after,
it's to be desired, it's to be prayed for, and it's to be found. the evidence of God's glorious
work in our souls, blessed with this spiritual understanding,
to go on our way rejoicing. So the Apostle says here, that
ye may know what is the hope of his calling. This is a good
hope, it's not a false hope, it's not a vain hope, it's a
good hope the Lord gives us that through his grace it's well with
our souls. It's well with our souls. We
do want to know that wonderful favour. You know, there was that
question, wasn't there, to that woman in the scripture when she
was asked the question, is it well? Is it well? It is well, she said. Well, today, my friends, can
you answer that question? Is it well with your soul? And you say, it is well. And it is well because of the
hope of your calling. It is because of that which God
has done for you. It is that which you have had
done in your souls, which you could not have done for yourselves. It is the blessing, the glorious
work of the Holy Spirit of God. And so he says, the hope of his
calling. You might understand this. And what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints. Now, it is a blessed thing to
look forward. Look forward to our eternal state. If we have been called, if we
have this good hope of calling, then our eternal state in heaven
is assured. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
did not die for any who are found in hell. He did not die for those
who do not believe. He did not die for those who
are not in his church. He did not die for those who
he has not chosen. He died for those. As we read
in this again this chapter, according as he has chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. Well the evidence of that is
through this calling that we are chosen and if we are then
again the evidence of that is that this world is not our rest,
we're not content to continue living Here, for however many
years it is, that God may permit us to be found in this world. You see, this world, we're told,
is polluted. And it is. When the Spirit of
God works in our heart, we shall have the evidence that it is
polluted. And when we see that, what will
the effect be? It will be to set our hearts
and our affections upon things above. and to that glorious inheritance. And that's a wonderful thought,
isn't it? To think that you and I will inherit glory. We don't deserve it. We didn't
work for it. You see, an inheritance, as you
well know, is something that is given to people when the person
has died and the inheritance, their possessions are given away
as an inheritance. Well, God gives us a great and
glorious inheritance, which is the gift of eternal life. Nothing more precious, nothing
more valuable than eternal life. And I think the Lord gives us,
therefore, this inheritance. And so we have this little description
here, and what the riches Well, it means it's so valuable, isn't
it? You and I strive, don't we, naturally
for riches. It's in our nature. Well, it's
not wrong to desire and to seek after those things, but we're
not to make it our God. First, it must be well down the
list, the riches of this world, because you and I would have
to leave them all anyway. However much money you've got
in the bank and you die, it's gone. It won't do you any good. But if you've got a bank, a bank
of faith, a bank of faith is what you need, an outstanding
good stead. Well, this inheritance, what
a wonderful thing it is to think that it's the gift given to the
whole Church of God, And you don't have to worry therefore
about your possessions in this world. If you possess the gift
of eternal life, because the things in this world perish,
you can leave them all, leave them all if you even live to
whatever it is. The oldest person today, what, 115 or something?
It's a very short time in comparison with eternity. But if we have
treasure in heaven, or if we are blessed with an inheritance,
eternal happiness is ours. And we'll be joined with everybody
of like mind. We'll all understand what everyone
is thinking and praising, because it will all be for the glory
of God. Unity, happiness, There's nothing
to destroy that, and that not just for a little while. We look
forward, don't we, to things sometimes? We look forward to
occasions, birthdays and anniversaries and holidays. They come, they
go, they're gone, they're past. But heaven, for God's people,
is eternal. Yes, it won't diminish, the attraction
won't get less, the blessing won't die, It's an eternal inheritance. It's no surprise, is it, that
the Apostle Peter spoke of it in these terms, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through grace,
under salvation, ready to be revealed, in the last time. What a wonderful thought it is,
surely, for us today as we journey on through life to possess this
great and glorious blessing. And what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints. Now I told you this is just one
long sentence. So he just goes on and says, and what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe? And it
is a great power of God to have called us out of darkness into
the glorious light of the everlasting gospel. And the apostle doesn't
underestimate it when he says, exceeding greatness of his power
to usward who believe. according to the working of his
mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him
from the dead, and set him in his own right hand in the heavenly
places." You see, the Spirit of God gives us understanding,
but we'll rejoice in what Christ has done to atone for our sins,
in giving his life and finishing the work his Father gave him
to do, and we'll rejoice that he rose from the dead, a conqueror
over sin, hell, death and the grave. And we rejoice in his
ascending to glory, and there he is now today, seated at the
Father's right hand to intercede for us. And we rejoice in the
fact that there is that day coming when he will receive us unto
himself, that where he is, we shall be also. So what a wonderful
depth there is in understanding, a spiritual understanding, the
great truth of God. And it is a vital understanding. We can have a brilliant mind
to understand difficult things like Einstein and Newton and
people like that. But my friends, the greatest
understanding we need is the truth of God. and the evidence
of God's work in our soul. That will do us real, lasting
good. Well, may the Spirit come and
apply his word to our heart, and may we be seeking after this
spiritual understanding, which will be for our eternal good. And therefore, the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the
hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints. Amen.