Sorry, I've just had a problem
with the recorder. I must learn which button to
press. It's a solid light when it's
working, isn't it, properly. It's my age. One of these days I'll get it
right. This is how God reconciles his love to his justice. It's
in the person of his son. And he makes his people holy
by imputation on the basis of the holiness and righteousness
of his son. And he imparts a holy nature
by his spirit to his people that they love the things of God.
And he gives us this divine adoption and makes us children with all
of the legal benefits. Benefits just doesn't sound right,
it's too devalued in our language and our culture. With all of
the glorious things that he has for his children in adoption,
the legal, the right, the papers are signed in the blood of his
son. He's purchased these things that we might be the children
of God. How blessed are His people. He's
given His people spiritual knowledge, things that the natural man does
not have. He's given us a promised inheritance
because we're heirs and joint heirs with Christ. Whatever is
Christ's belongs to His people in Christ. He's promised us the
presence of His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. He's given us that Spirit
of God to be with us. to walk through this light. He
said, it's good for you that I go away, for if I go not away,
I won't send the Holy Spirit. But if I go away, I will send
the Holy Spirit to be with you, the Comforter to be with you.
oh this is our prayer we sit here so few Sunday by Sunday
but we pray we pray that some from this small town this village
might be given by God because it is the gift of God a hunger
for these eternal blessings of God these blessings these blessings
with which he's blessed his people and so he goes on then in verse
fifteen he says wherefore I also After I heard of your faith in
the Lord Jesus, this is the sign that they're amongst that number.
This is the sign to him that they're saints and faithful.
After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and love
unto all the saints, you know, true faith works. What's the
fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, love. don't he says
he that loves God loves his brother also you can't say I'm a child
of God and have hateful resentment towards those who are your brethren
in Christ love for all the Saints but because I've heard of this
I pray for you verse 16 I cease not I pray regularly and often
I cease not to give thanks for you that your the elect of God,
that you're the people of God, that he is accomplishing his
purposes. He said he will save a people for his own glory, and
you're amongst them, you Ephesians, and all who are faithful in Christ
Jesus. I give thanks for you, making
mention of you in my prayers." He prays. He prays. And he prays much. He ceases
not to give thanks, making mention in his prayers. He prays for
them. Where there is little prayer,
someone once said, where there is little prayer, there is little
grace. And where there is much grace,
there is much prayer. You thought I was gonna say that
the other way around, didn't you? It's not true. It's not necessarily
the case that where there's much prayer, there's much grace. Where
there is little prayer, there is little grace. That's true.
I think we'll agree with that. But where there is much grace,
there is much prayer. Not the converse. You see, many
imagine that they can summon down grace by their much praying. And so they say we need to achieve
such and such a thing, we need to get more people coming, therefore
how are we going to do this? We'll twist God's arm up his
back. How are we going to do that? We'll have an all night
prayer meeting. We'll all come together and we'll have an all
night prayer meeting and if we do that often enough God will
give in to the pressure of his arm being twisted up his back
and he'll bow and he'll start to make people come. So it's
all down to us, if they don't come it's that we've not stayed
up long enough in the night praying. And this is what they start to
say, and it reminds me of that song from the Irving Berlin musical,
Annie Get Your Gun. It becomes like this, anytime
you can pray, I can pray longer. I can pray any time longer than
you. Yes, I can. No, you can't. Yes, I can. And
so it goes on. No, we're not heard for our much
speaking. Jesus said, don't make long prayers,
we're not heard for our much speaking. Don't show off with
religion, we're not heard for our much speaking. You see, there's
a lot of prayer that is actually works-based prayer. It prays
because it thinks it's going to be rewarded because of the
work of praying. rather than the spirit of prayer,
which is from God. You see, that works-based prayer
is no more likely to bring down grace than saying Hail Marys
will bring down grace. God says to the people through
Isaiah, Isaiah 1 15, when you spread forth your hands in prayer,
I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea, when ye make many prayers,
I will not hear. You're not heard, for you're
much speaking. But, but, it is good to ask God's grace to prompt
prayer. It is good. We should ask His
grace, cause me to pray. His Spirit does cause us to pray.
Where there is much grace, there is much prayer. What was the
sign that Paul had seen the light on the road to Damascus? There's
a man, said God to Ananias, and he's praying. Go to him. He's
praying. There's grace in his heart. He's
praying. That grace in his heart is showing itself in the fact
that he's praying. It's God that puts in the heart
to pray, by His grace. He put it in David's heart, 2
Samuel 7, 27. He put it in David's heart to
pray. The Lord put it in his heart
to pray. Oh, that the Lord would put it
in our hearts to pray for the salvation of His people, for
the good of His people. For what should we pray for?
What should we pray for? We don't know what we should
pray for as we all. The Spirit intercedes for us, but what should
we pray for? We should pray for that which
he's going to accomplish. Jesus said, pray in my name and
it will be done. What is it that we should pray
for then? Is it not God's blessings on his people? Is that not what
we should pray for? What has God promised he will
do? To bless his people. To be glorified in his people.
In the salvation of his people. That's praying in accordance
with Christ's word and Christ's name. You see, If those things
are right, if God's blessing is upon his people for their
eternal good, all other things in the world and the events of
this world that affect us, they are ordered with the objective
of the good of his elect. Now I can imagine that when you're
broken down on the hard shoulder of a motorway far from home in
a car that doesn't really fit on the road that you're driving
along it is hard to see that at times but it's true it's true
I speak to my own heart all other things in the world if God is
blessing us truly all other things in world events are ordered with
the objective of the good of his elect so how does Paul pray
for the good of believers well we have that in verses sixteen
to the end of the chapter What I want to see here is to whom
does he pray? To whom does he pray? With what
prime objective does he pray? And what are the results that
he expects? The blessings, the resulting blessings that he expects. First of all then, to whom does
he pray? Verse 17, to make mention of
you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory may. To whom does he pray? He prays
to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory. This is whom he prays to. He
prays to God. Well, you say, doesn't everybody
pray to God? Don't they all? People everywhere pray to God,
with a little g, their own God. The Irish comedian, the deceased
Irish comedian, Dave Allen, I don't know if you ever remember, if
you ever watched any of his routines. He always used to end his routines
with this remark, and may your God go with you. Which, whoever
it is. Whichever your God is, may your
God go with you. And it's like, well, whatever
is your personal preference when it comes to the God thing. May
your God go with you. Your DIY, do-it-yourself religion. You invent it for yourself, and
may your God go with you. And that's fine, isn't it? Isn't
it nice that everybody should have a God? You know, isn't it
nice that everybody should have something or someone they can
believe in. Isn't that a good thing? According
to this book that's idolatry. That is pure and simple idolatry
because there is only one true God and that one true God is
unknowable, he's unapproachable, He's holy of purer eyes than
to behold iniquity. He's just with a justice that
transcends anything we can imagine. He's righteous and pure and perfect. And he's also love. As I've already
said, he's love. And all of these characteristics
are in perfect harmony in the Godhead. And the love of God
doesn't negate the justice of God. but he is the God above
all he is the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ because
he's made known to sinners the unknowable God is made known
to sinners in Christ and in Christ alone. Jesus said in these days
In these days, if anything goes in religion, you know, may your
God go with you, whatever you want. Broad church, they talk
about how good it is to be a broad church, very accepting of all
sorts of different views. Do you know they wouldn't have
had the man Christ Jesus? as a member of their churches
because he said, no man comes to the father but by me. He was
absolutely clear, absolutely exclusive. No man comes to the
father but by me. We had the Archbishop of Canterbury
speaking yesterday, the head of the Anglican community, saying,
what a wonderful version of the scriptures this one is that we
use, the 400 year old King James Version. What a wonderful version
of the scriptures it is. If he believed what it says,
he wouldn't say and do and associate with who he does. Because, well
for one thing, he would immediately not be the Archbishop of Canterbury,
because as soon as he said, and as soon as he pronounced truly
according to this word, as soon as he did that he would have
to cease to be the Archbishop of Canterbury for he would have
to echo the words of Christ no man comes to the father but by
me and yet his words constantly say well the Muslims religion
is fine for them that's good we have a lot to learn from it
and of course the Pope of Rome he is yes he's a very good Christian
and we must listen to what he says no man comes to the father
but by me In the beginning was the Word, says the Scripture,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This Word,
which is Christ, who was made flesh and dwelt among us, whose
glory was beheld by those disciples in those days and by all his
people now, That one was made flesh and came to earth. No man
had seen God at any time, but the only begotten Son who is
in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. He has made
Him known. How important is Christ? Look
at verse 10 of Ephesians 1, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him.
you know if it's as the Jehovah's Witnesses say that there's God
and then there's God's little boy who's called Jesus isn't
that pushing God into the background that if all things are in Christ
they're all brought together in him which are in heaven and
on earth even in him no he's God he is God it all comes together
in him he who was in the form of God says Philippians 2 but
thought it not robbery to be equal with God he was equal with
God left his glory and became a man and for a little while
says Hebrews was made lower than the angels for the suffering
of death that he might redeem his people yes he became a man
and in that condition for a little while said my father is greater
than I But in all things He was equal with the Father, co-equal
with the Father. He is God, very God of very God. And all things are in Him. In Colossians 2 verse 9 it even
says this, that as He walked this earth, in Him dwelt the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. In a body. Can you imagine that?
We sung in a couple of hymns last week, I think it was, wasn't
it, about God contracted to a span in the incarnation. When the
eternal God became man, became a baby at Bethlehem, God contracted
to a span. God was manifest in him. Great is the mystery of godliness,
says Paul to Timothy. God was manifest in the flesh. God. You know, he who is the
brightness of his father's glory, the express image of his person,
when he had purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of
the Majesty on high. No man comes to the Father but
by me, said Christ. And Paul prays to this God, who
is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He prays to
the true God, who manifests himself in Christ. to the one who's expressed
his overflowing love to his elect, in Christ and in him alone, in
justice, absolutely, the God of all justice, in holiness,
but in love, in Christ, in Christ, who is, his names, think of his
names, everlasting father, prince of peace, mighty God, and he's
the father of glory. Paul says, I pray to the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, or the glorious
Father, it could be put. I pray to the glorious Father,
the glorious Father. How is God glorified? Moses asked
him, you know what I'm going to say, I've said this so often.
Moses asked him, show me your glory. And he expected some great
display. Show me your glory. And God said,
I'll show you my glory. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. The grace of God is the chief
glory of God. His grace to his people. Yes,
he's holy. He's pure. He dwells in unapproachable
light. But He's gracious. In love, He
is gracious to a people who are sinners. And in love, and in
grace, and in justice, in His Son, in the person of His Son,
He has accomplished all things to express that love perfectly
to those people. He's the God of sovereign grace. He's the God of particular redemption. If you pray to any other God,
this is the God Paul prays to. If you pray to any other God,
you may as well bow down to a Buddha. Ah, well, there's lots of reformed
believers and they pray to God, so their prayers are okay. I
know we've been talking about this, but not the four and three-quarter
pointers. You know, there's five points
of Calvinism, and I don't like calling them Calvinism, because
they're the five points of Scripture. They're the doctrines of grace.
They're the gospel of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And
all of them are important. All of them. And there are some
of them that in my flesh, my flesh as it is, it puts its human
logic to work in its sinful state, and it says, that's not fair.
I don't like that. But God reveals to his people
the truth that he is the God of sovereign grace and particular
redemption. When Christ came and walked this
earth and earned righteousness, and when he went to the cross
and bore the sin of his people, was made sin for his people,
that they might be made the righteousness of God in him, what was that
for? What eternal currency did that
accomplish? I'll tell you. To the last penny,
we used to have farthings, maybe I ought to say farthing, to the
last farthing it accomplished the righteousness and justification
of his people, absolutely. Every penny was paid, it was
counted out, every penny was paid, he paid it in full for
the elect, for his people. He didn't do enough to make it
possible for all if they would choose. He saved his people from
their sins. And if you pray to a God that
is not that God, however much he sounds like that God, you've
been to Madame Tussauds? the waxworks down in uh... houston
road and you see the images of people who are in the news and
famous people some of them from a distance they look like the
real people, oh look there's the queen over there and you
wander up and you could all no she's dead it's not the queen
the queen isn't there it looks like but it isn't and these gods
that these people are praying to boy they look awfully like
the god of scripture but you get up close You get up close
and to pray to a God that isn't the God of Scripture, that isn't
the God as he reveals himself in this book, that's as useful
as bowing down to Buddha or any other false God. It really is.
He prays to the true God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory. And what prime blessing, secondly,
what prime blessing does he pray for? Now, we hear a lot in these
days of health, wealth and happiness. God wants you to be prosperous
and happy and wealthy and all of these things. And so you would
think that Paul would pray that they'd have all sorts of comforts
and all sorts of physical blessings and all sorts of prosperity in
this world. All of these things. No, he doesn't
pray for those things. What do you desire above all
for your children, for your grandchildren, for fellow believers, for your
brethren? Look what verse 17 and 18 says. He prays 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 eyes of your understanding being enlightened. That's what
he prays for. He prays for spiritual knowledge.
the spirit of wisdom and revelation the spirit of wisdom and revelation
the enlightenment of your eyes that's what he prays for that's
what we should pray for for one another not worldly wisdom he
doesn't pray for worldly wisdom though don't get me wrong worldly
wisdom is very very good in the providence of God There's a lot
of worldly wisdom that is very good. It's to our benefit. It's
used for the benefit of the gospel. I mean, think of science and
technology and medicine and all of the benefits that those things
have brought. Worldly wisdom, the wisdom of man, the devisings
of man. Good stuff. There's a lot of
very, very good stuff. The Internet is being used for
God's glory and the proclamation of the gospel of His grace. It's
also being used for some more some very sinful things at the
same time, but nevertheless we bless God for these blessings
of worldly wisdom that are used. But Paul prays for spiritual
blessings. for spiritual knowledge, for
the ability to discern gospel truth. The mind of Christ is
what he prays for. You know in 1 Corinthians 2.14,
the natural man doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God,
for they're foolishness to him, neither can he know them. Why?
Because they're spiritually discerned. Oh, he prays that we might have
the spirit of wisdom and revelation. That spirit of revelation, the
ability to discern gospel truth, and the mind of Christ, and the
things of Christ, who is the wisdom of God. 2 Timothy 3.15
says that the Scriptures, which is the word of God, and Christ
is the word of God, and it's able to make us wise unto salvation. Wisdom, that's what I want for
my children and my grandchildren and my fellow believers. Wisdom
unto salvation. To know, to have spiritual understanding. The spirit of wisdom and revelation. That sets the affection on the
things of Christ. On things above where he is.
Not on the things of this world, that sets affection on him. Because
as we read in Proverbs in chapter 8 and verse 35 earlier whoever
finds this wisdom finds life and that life is eternal life.
What is this wisdom about? It's the wisdom that the world
knows nothing of. It's wisdom concerning sin. Oh, that God
would bless us with that wisdom to know that we're sinners and
how we truly stand in our flesh before God. You know when Paul
says, we are the circumcision in Philippians 3.3, we are the
true people of God who worship God in the spirit and rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have how much confidence in the flesh?
Answer, no confidence. Ah, how many who call themselves
believers have, well, a little bit of confidence in the flesh.
I had a pretty good week last week. I didn't do this and I
did all those other good things and, you know, they start putting
confidence in the flesh. But he says no confidence in
the flesh because we understand what we are by nature as sinners
and we understand who God is. in His essence and in His nature,
as a God of justice and holiness, of purer eyes than to behold
iniquity, who cannot look upon sin, and who in justice must
punish sin, and to know that we, as sinners in the flesh,
deserve the wrath and condemnation of a holy God, to be banished
from His presence, and for that to weigh us down, for that to
burden us, for that to give us a heavy burden, to make us weary
of the things of this world and of the flesh and the confidence
in it, and to point us to the things of eternity and to point
us to the substitute who is the surety for his people to answer
that question how can a man be just with God only one way in
Christ the sinner's substitute I can never ever come close or
start in my flesh but in him in him all is accomplished in
the substitute to know what propitiation means oh that's a hard word I
don't care whether you can define it as a word in the dictionary
but do you know this that Christ has turned away the wrath and
the anger the just anger against sin and he's poured soothing
oil upon that anger. He's turned it away. To know
what redemption means, that there was a debt, a sin debt, at the
bank of the justice of God and that Christ has been and paid
that debt on my behalf. Why do you have confidence? Because
my surety My surety has been and done that for me. About sanctification,
that why am I where I am? Because He set me apart. Like
the vessels in the temple were sanctified for the use of God.
He's done that. That I'm justified in Him. I'm
declared righteous. I'm declared not guilty of all
sin, for He has already paid it. For God cannot be just and
punish sin twice. We must deal with God either
on the basis of justice and on the basis of sin, knowing that
God must punish all sin, or we deal with Him in Christ. And
if we're in Christ, we find that He's already done all those things.
And we find that in this wisdom of God, it is Christ who is made
unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption. And we know as Jesus himself
prayed of his father before he went to the cross, John 17 verse
3, that knowing him, knowing Christ, is knowing God. And knowing
God is knowing the blessings of life eternal, experiencing
them. You see, if you know this, what
am I going to pray for you? I'm going to pray that all the
traffic lights will be green for you when you go on your journey,
that you'll pass all your exams, that you'll become, you know,
a top lawyer or doctor or whatever else, you'll earn a fortune and
you'll be very, very rich forever. Is that what I'm going to pray
for you? Well, that may well happen. You work hard and God
blesses you, that may well happen. But if other things happen to
you, if God blesses you spiritually, you'll just know his truth. you'll
know his eternal truth. And whatever else is in a complete
mess around your life, family members, situations that are
just such a grief of mind. You know when Esau went off and
married women that he shouldn't have done and had all of those
affairs and it says of, it was Rachel wasn't it, it was Rachel
his mother, it says he was a grief of mind to his mother. Grief
of mind. You have family members who are
a grief of mind to you. But if you know this, if you're
settled in this, spiritual knowledge, the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of Him, your eyes enlightened with the gospel
of grace, then all the other issues of life are settled for
you. Oh yes, you do what you can to help. Be anxious for nothing. In all things, by prayer and
supplication, make your requests known to God, because you know
the most important thing, which is to know Him, who controls
all things, and who orders all things for the good of His people.
Now this knowledge, what does it lead to? Leading to which
objectives? What is it that He prays that
they would know? Well the first, I've got four
here, and don't worry, I'm not going to be very long, I know
I've used most of the time already, but in verse 17, that it may
give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge
of him that's the first thing to know Christ and to know his
life eternal to know him to know him not just to know about him
but to know him turn over to Philippians chapter three Philippians chapter three and
we'll start at verse seven Paul is talking about his credentials
as a Pharisee and a man of respect amongst the Jewish nation. the top rank of Pharisees, the
one who'd had the best teaching of all. He was from the prime
tribe and all of his credentials were as good as they could get
in that nation. But he says, what things were
gained to me, the things that I put real value in, those I
counted loss for Christ. Compared with Christ, they're
fit to chuck away. Things that you value. Those
of you that know me well and have been around me the last
few months will know that something happened to me back in September.
No, I'm not talking about my back. I'm talking about the acquisition
of an iPhone and all of the applications that come with it. And what a
delight that little piece of technology has been to me. I
wouldn't be surprised if in 10 years' time I look at this thing
and I think, Fit to throw away, because there'll be something
much better there by then. Joan says, no, give it to me. But
you know, Paul counted everything that he regarded as a value in
the stakes of acceptance with God. Being a Pharisee, being
blameless regarding the law, he counts it loss for Christ.
It's worthless. It's not worth the paper it's
written on, it's rubbish, just throw it away. Yea, doubtless
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ. He wants to know Christ. And
he wants to know Christ Jesus my Lord, see possession, my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count
them but done that I may win Christ and be found in him. not
having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God through faith, that I may know him, that I may know him,
and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings
being made conformable to his death. that I may know Him. This is what Paul wanted. This
is what comes from this knowledge of Him. This spiritual enlightenment,
this spirit of wisdom and revelation, this opening of the eyes of the
understanding, the enlightenment of them, is the knowledge of
Him. And to know is life eternal. Not just about Him, but to know
Him. He walks with me, says that simple chorus, You know, I know
we pour scorn on some of these simple choruses, but some of
them do say some good things. He walks with me and he talks
with me along life's narrow way. To know him. Secondly, verse
18. the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his
calling. The hope of his calling. If you've
got this spirit of wisdom and revelation, and the eyes of your
understanding are enlightened, you will know what the hope of
his calling is. This is what he's praying. Blessings
on his fellow believers, blessings on them, that you might know
the hope of his calling. There is a calling of God. There
is a calling. Romans 8, 30. Whom he foreknew,
that is whom he elected, whom he chose in sovereign grace,
he predestined, he ordered all the events of their life, the
path that they would walk, and at a point called them. by the
gospel of his grace and those he called he justified because
those he called he called in the gospel of Jesus Christ and
they heard by the preacher that was sent to them and hearing
they believed in him and believing they called upon the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ and whoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved and those he justified he glorified he
glorified You're already there, in a sense. Oh no, I'm here now,
I'm earthbound. Yes we are, but in a sense, you're
already there. Eternal glory. And it puts a
hope within. A hope within. Psalm 16 verse
6 says, The Lord is the portion of my inheritance, and the lines
have fallen to me in pleasant places. I have a godly, a goodly
heritage. I've got this inheritance of
eternal glory, and it gives me a hope within, that I know I'm
in a mortal body. And I might think that I've got
so many years left, but I have absolutely no idea. none whatsoever
but yet I've got a hope of glory and when it comes to that time
you read some of the accounts that you get of you know people
like Huntington and oh I can't think of the name of the guy
now although it's on the tip of my tongue but you know Although
in physical weakness and passing from this world, yet how brighter
and brighter, day by day, shone the reality of what they were
going to, that hope of glory. And it produces evidence of faith.
If you've got that hope of glory, it's evidence of faith. And you
know what? It leaks out. If that truly is
in you, you know, as a man is in his heart, as a man thinketh,
so he is. And what you are inside leaks
out. And you know, the tree bears the fruit of what's inside. And
a bramble cannot bear choice plums. That's the way it is. What's inside leaks out, and
it leaks out, and others notice, says the scripture. And it prompts
questions. You know, you've got this hope.
And oh, that we pray that people would see and ask us for a reason
for the hope that is in us and that we might be ready to give
an answer to those who ask a reason for the hope. Why do you have
this hope? Ah, you know, what is your beloved more than another?
Ah, my beloved is. And you tell them. You've got
an opportunity to tell them. Oh, that they would. You see,
it's, to use an illustration, this hope of his calling, this
hope of his calling, what is it now? It's like a rosebud in
May, you know, and you see the rosebud, and the rosebud in itself
is okay, but it's not particularly attractive, well, matter of opinion,
but, you know, compared with what it becomes. In a few weeks
after the bud is there, it opens out into the brilliance of its
beauty and of its fragrance. And that's what it's like having
this hope of glory. Yes, we've got it, we see it,
but we know it's going to be magnificent. It's going to be
beyond words, the hope of His calling. And what's it based
on? This knowledge, this spirit of wisdom and revelation. Oh,
I pray that my fellow believers would have that, that they might
have this hope of glory. Yes, we live in this world. Yes,
we enjoy the things that God gives us in this world. But our
affection is set on things above, where Christ is. verse 18 again,
the second half of it, and what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints are. These riches of the glory of
his inheritance. If you know the spirit of wisdom
and revelation and enlightenment, you'll know something of the
rich inheritance that awaits you in glory. What is that that
awaits you in glory? The inheritance in glory. What
is it? What is our inheritance? What is the reward that awaits
us? Well, as God said to Abraham, I am your exceeding great reward,
Christ, to be in the presence of Christ. We live in a world
where, at our very best, we're bound by sin and time and the
things of this creation and of the things of the corruption
of this world. But there, sinless perfection.
And we read in Revelation 21, none of the afflictions of the
flesh, no more pain, no more death, no more crying, no more
tears, for God shall wipe away all tears. The words speak of
indescribable bliss, of love in its purest form. The presence
of the King, in the chamber of the King, possessing Him. Him
being our God, we being His people. And all of this made made legal
by the process of adoption, adopted as his children. This is a wonderful
prospect, the riches of glory of inheritance that is ours in
Christ. I like that other chorus. Heaven
is a wonderful place, filled with glory and grace. I want
to see my Saviour's face. Heaven is a wonderful place.
And then the little Irish girl says, I want to go there. That's
what believers should have a yearning for. the riches of the glory
of the inheritance of the saints in him. And then verses 19 to
23, the exceeding, verse 19, that you might know what is the
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 at his own right hand in the heavenly
places 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. And he's put all things under
his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church,
which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all,
that you might know. This is what I pray for you.
This is what I trust you would pray for me. To know the exceeding
greatness of the power of Christ and the position of Christ now. To know that. Do you have problems
in this life? I know you do, but do you know
the exceeding greatness of the power and the position of our
Savior? Do you know how it exceeds all
else? Romans 8 31, if God before us I know something of his exceeding
greatness, of the power of Christ and of his position now above
all things, above all principality, above all that would bring us
down. His position above all of that, if God before us, who
can be against us? No doubt then he causes all things
to work together for the good of his people. Our God is omnipotent. He has all power. All that he
has promised, he can and he will accomplish. And how do we know?
What's the guarantee of it? He raised him from the dead.
He raised him from the dead. Or you might say, didn't other
people get raised from the dead? I mean, didn't Elijah? raised
the son of that widow to whom he was sent? Didn't he raise
him from the dead? And didn't Jesus raise Lazarus
from the dead? I mean, what's so special about
the raising of Christ from the dead? Well, all of those others
were raised from the dead as sinners still to die. Christ
was raised from the dead as the one who had conquered death.
You see, this is Him who was made sin. This is Him who was
crushed under the curse of divine justice, for cursed is everyone
that hangs on a tree. But He conquered it. He paid
for it. He established righteousness.
He established justice. He fulfilled all things. And
He was raised from the dead, triumphant. He was vindicated
at the cross. when he triumphed over Satan.
In that moment when Satan and all the powers of darkness were
convinced that they had their victory at last, because the
child of the woman had been devoured, and this was no more a problem,
that from the beginning of time, from the fall in the Garden of
Eden, it was destroyed, God's plan of salvation. But in that
very moment, that was the moment when Satan was utterly disarmed,
in terms of his ability, to accuse the brethren, and to justly condemn
them to hell, for Christ had died, but not only died and paid,
but been raised from the dead, victorious from the dead, and
put in this highest position of all, what blessings we have
he that spared his own son spared not his own son but delivered
him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all
things this is what Paul prayed for the Ephesians and it's what
we should pray for one another the knowledge of God in Christ,
the wisdom and the enlightenment that comes from him. These things
are a solid anchor for the soul that would be not moved nor tossed
about by every wind of doctrine, as Ephesians 4.14 says, that
in understanding as he says in 1 Corinthians 14 20 in understanding
we might be men might be mature not as children tossed to and
fro not knowing what is right and wrong but mature strong in
the knowledge of God this is what we pray for one another
because if this is right then all other things will be right
and we need not worry or be concerned well we're going to sing