We come down to verse 18 and
verse 19 in our studies of this first chapter of Ephesians. And
I want to begin reading again in verse 15. Ephesians chapter
1 and verse 15. 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, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may
know what is the hope of His calling. and what is the riches
of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power towards us 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 hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be
the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the
fullness of him that filleth all in all. And you and I are
beginning our study this morning here in verse 18 and verse 19
on the three whats. Paul's first request was that
these Ephesians may have the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in general that they may know the Lord better. They knew him,
but he said, I pray for you that he would open the eyes of your
understanding that you may know him better. And then he makes
these three petitions for these believers. First of all, he said,
I pray for you that you may know what is the hope of His calling. And secondly, that you may know
what is the riches, the glorious riches of His inheritance in
the saints. And then in verse 19, the third
what, that you may know what, is the exceeding greatness of
His power. But he begins here in verse 18,
and he says, for you to know all of this, there's something
that must take place. The eyes of your understanding
must be enlightened. Now, one version I read says
this. It reads like this. It says,
the eyes of your heart be flooded with light. I like that. The
eyes of your heart be flooded with light. You know, in a way
of introduction, you and I have so lost and saved alike. Humanity has such great need. We have such dire need. And our
whole problem, whether we want to admit it or not, we're not
what we used to be. When we come from the hand of
our Creator, He breathed into our nostrils the breath of life.
We were holy. Back there in the garden, our
first parents, they loved the Lord. They knew Him. They obeyed Him. They followed
Him. They had the capacity to do that. But the gate of sin, disobedience,
They sinned against the Creator. They disobeyed God. And what
happened? Sin entered and we fell. They fell and we fell in them. And we're not what we used to
be. We don't have the capacity anymore to love God. Not by nature. The very thing
that was essential for us to worship God and commune with
God has been lost. That is, it's been ruined, it's
been corrupted. And what is that? It's our nature. Our whole problem is, and God
knows it's bad enough what we do. That's bad enough. But what we are is even worse. We do what we do because we are
what we are. And Paul was right into these
very Ephesians here, and he says, you're not what you were back
in the garden. Back there, our nature was holy. Back there, we loved the Lord
and we knew Him and we communed with our Creator. But now, he
says, sin has changed everything. Now, what's our nature? Paul
said, we're children of wrath by nature. Our very minds are
enmity against God by nature. It's what we are. And what's
the remedy for it? Well, we have to be saved. That's
just a word I love. It's a Bible word. We have to
be saved. The Lord has to save us from
what we are. He has to save us from our sins. He has to put His hand once again,
that created hand, and make us anew. He has to breathe once
again into our nostrils and give us life eternal. We must be regenerated. We must be made a new creature,
have a new nature. And that's what Paul's been talking
about. That's what's happened to us. The Lord Jesus has come
to this world. He's been punished for our sins.
He's gone back into heaven. And He's saving sinners to this
very day. He's not redoing them. He's not
remodeling them. He's giving them a new life,
a new nature. He's washing them from their
sins, making them new creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's what we need. That's what's essential for us. But you know something as wonderful
as that is? That's only the beginning. And
that's what the Apostle Paul is talking about. He looks at
these Ephesians and He says, you were dead in trespasses and
sins, but look what's happened to you. Look what the Lord's
done for you. He's quickened you. He's given
you life. He said, there you were, living
in sins, and then this gospel come to you. It crossed your
path. You were awakened. And this gospel
that you heard became the gospel of your salvation. And you believed
it and you trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you began to
love one another. Oh, he said, but this is just
the beginning, didn't it? As wonderful and as necessary
as this is, it's just the beginning. And now he begins to tell us
here in these passages that what he wants them to know and what
he wants us to know is the reality of this new life. Not only what
the Lord has done for us, but that rich inheritance that He
has laid out for us. Not only the power that has brought
us out of this spiritual grave of sin and death, but that power
which even now works in us and works on our behalf. Paul said,
I want you to know the riches of Christ. I want you to know
Him better. I want you to live in the full
assurance of what Christ is and what He's laid up for you. I
want you to know the exceeding riches of Christ. And I'll be
honest with you, brothers and sisters, when the Lord saved
me, and this is probably your testimony, when the Lord saved
you, that's about all you knew. He saved you. You knew who saved
you. And you knew He saved you by
His grace, and you knew He had saved you from your sin and guilt. But that's about all you knew
of Him. And Paul takes for granted that's about all these know.
But he said, there is exceeding great more. If some wealthy person
put ten million dollars in your bank account, put it there in
your name, wouldn't that be wonderful? What would you do with $10 million?
I'd pay off my debts. I'd go on a long, extended vacation
in the deep south somewhere, and I'd live off of the interest
the rest of my life. It doesn't matter what you'd
do. But what if you didn't know that somebody put $10 million
in your account? What if you were ignorant of
it? Well, you'd be a rich man, but you wouldn't live like it,
would you? You'd be muckraking around in this world like one
who was overcome with abject poverty. And there you were,
had all this money in the bank, and yet living like a pauper.
I remember, I used to go down, some of you remember when my
dad, two or three years before he died, I'd go down and try
to spend one week a month with him. And then my dad got so close
in the last four or five years of his life, And I remember one
time we lived in an old log house until I was up in my teenage
years. My dad was a coal miner. And we would sit there and talk. And he had this little farm.
We were sitting there one day and he said, I want to show you
something. And he took me out of the house and went down to
this old garage, this old dirt floor. And he said, give me a
sharp pointed shovel. He measured so many feet this
way and measured so many feet that way and said, I want you
to dig down right here. I've got something I want to
show you. And I started. He said, be careful now. I dug down a foot
or so and I hit something. It was an old jar, a cork jar,
wrapped in an old bunch of rags and stuff. And I got down and
it was full of money. I thought, what in the world
are you doing with this money hid out down there? And we took
it up to the house and sat down and counted it, and I had $100
bills and 20s scattered all over his table. And I sat there and
counted that and looked at that, and you know how much was there?
$50,000. Buried in a little hole. I just
loved him to death and he loved me to death. I said, what are
you going to do with all this? He said, I'm giving it to you
and your brothers and sisters. Well, I knew my dad loved me,
and I loved him, but I had no idea that he had all that dough
stashed away from me and my family. You remember the addition I built
on my house a few years ago? Well, that's where it came from.
What am I saying? That's what Paul is telling these
people. That's what he's telling us.
Yes, God is now your Father. Christ is your Savior, but do
you realize Has it ever dawned upon you how rich you are? We don't know that when He saves
us. Oh, it's a glorious thing that our sins have been forgiven.
That He's received us. He's not angry with us. But oh,
that's just the beginning, brothers and sisters. That's what the
Apostle Paul is saying. And he begins like this. He says,
here's what must take place to you young believers. The eyes
of your understanding must be enlightened. That's where it
has to take place. In the heart. Remember we looked
at some places last week in Luke chapter 24 about what this meant
to have the eyes of the understanding open. The Lord opened Lydia's
heart that she understood the gospel. I am so glad when I look back
upon my Christian life that the Bible says that when
we are first saved, we are nothing but little babies. Because remember
when the Lord first saved you, how you stumbled around trying
to walk, and how you often fell. and how your attitude was often
wrong about things, and some of the things you believed weren't
even in the Scriptures. Do you remember that? You were
just a baby, and your attitude towards God was not always right,
and God knows towards man our attitude was not always right.
And you know what we needed. The very thing the Apostle Paul
is talking about here. The eyes of our understanding
being enlightened. There's something about this,
and I'll give you three or four examples here in just a minute,
but there's something about this. When the Holy Spirit floods our
eyes with this light, when He opens the eyes of our understanding,
that's not only a necessary work if you and I are going to grow,
As believers, as Christians, if we're going to not stay little
babies the rest of our life, not be a 30-year-old infant in
the faith, if we're going to grow, it's not only necessary
that the Spirit open our eyes of our understanding. But I tell
you, there's something about that. It's a holy work. When He does it, it affects us
in our souls. Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God. Why are they pure in heart? You
know why? They see God. When a man sees
God, it makes his heart pure. When the Holy Spirit enlightens
our eyes, it has this holy effect upon us. You remember Job. Remember
the awful providence that Job was under? The Lord almost crushed
him. How would you like to lose ten
children? He did. Seven sons and three daughters. All of them killed at one time.
Lost his property, lost his animals. His wife said, why don't you
just curse God and die? But the trial got so severe,
finally Job got in an awful attitude. He said, I've not done anything
to deserve this. And you know, he really began
to accuse God. God is not just in the way He's
treated me. And he misjudged the Lord. But
the Lord appeared to him and began to teach him. And boy,
he taught him well. He said, Joe, where were you
when I laid the foundations of the earth? Were you back there
with me? No, you weren't. when the waters gushed out as
water from the womb that would have overflown the earth? Who
was it that said, Here the two shall you come, and no further?
It wasn't you, Job. It was Me. Job, who feeds the
wild goats up in the mountain? When the little ravens cry for
food, do they cry to you? Do you feed them? Who looks upon
the proud to humble them? Who upholds this universe? Who
rules in providence? Who says to the small drops of
rain, be thou on the earth? Job, do you do all this? You've misjudged me. And you
know what Job said. Remember what he said? I've heard
of you, but now my eyes see you. Now my eyes see you. How does
a man see God? Just what Paul said. through
the eyes of his understanding. And what was the effects of this
upon Job? He said, I bore myself, and I
repent in dust and ashes. And Isaiah, listen to this, what
happened to Isaiah. Isaiah was a man that always
condemned everybody else. One of his favorite words was,
Woe be to them. Woe be to them. Woe be to the
wicked. It ain't going to be well with them. Woe be to them
that give themselves to strong drink. Ain't going to be well
with them. He spent five chapters in the book of Isaiah, the first
five chapters, woe be to everybody else. And then the Lord opened
his understanding. The Lord opened his heart. And
he saw the Lord Jesus Christ upon his throne. And he was high
and lifted up, and all of these holy angels were around him,
saying, Holy, holy, holy is this Lord of hosts. And his glory
just filled the earth, and Isaiah saw him. And you know what he
said? Woe is me. Woe is me. I'm just like everybody else,
he said. Everybody else is of unclean lips, but so am I. Everybody else needs to be washed,
but so do I. Woe is me. I'm a man of unclean
lips. Why? Because mine eyes have seen
the Lord. See what an effect it has upon
us. Oh, Paul says, I pray that the eyes of your understanding
be an enlighten. If you and I are to grow, brothers
and sisters, and find out what's involved in these what's, then we must have the eyes of
our understanding opened. And only the Spirit of the Lord
can do that. Do you and I see a need for that?
I hope we're not among those who say, well, I'm a Christian.
I'm a believer now. And that's all I need. I'll just
sit down and rest there. Well, if that's our attitude,
we may not be Christians at all. Or if we are, we're poor Christians. We're poor Christians. Here is
what we need to pray for that the eyes of our understanding
would be in line. Okay then, this first one. This
is the only one I'm going to deal with this morning. In verse
18, that you may know what is the hope of His calling. Now, Paul doesn't list these
requests in a haphazard way. He's got an order that he follows.
And I hope we see that. There's a reason that he lists
them in the order that he does. And there's three words here
that I want to call your attention to. Know, that you may know. And secondly, hope. What is to
hope? And thirdly, his calling. Calling. What is his calling? The hope of his calling. Now,
if you're one of those who believe, dear brothers and sisters, that
when the Lord first saves a man, that that man is a theologian,
that he knows everything there is to know about this wonderful
grace of God in Christ, you're not going to agree with my interpretation
of this. Because the Apostle Paul is writing
here to young believers. If they're not young believers,
then he's writing to them as though they were. As though they
just believed in Christ. And here he started on their
Christian journey. And Paul was saying to these
Ephesian believers, these young believers, he says, I know that
you've heard the gospel. And it's become the gospel of
your salvation. I know you've come to Christ.
You've trusted Christ. He's given you life eternal. But he says this. Do you realize this? That you've been called to this
on purpose. That's what he said. He is calling. Do you know that you have been
called to this on purpose? Yes, you believe in Christ. Yes,
He has saved you. The Holy Spirit has come and
sealed you. He has borne witness to your
heart. That you are indeed a child of
God. But do you realize, has it ever
dawned upon you that God has called you with this special
calling? That you have come to Christ,
you have believed on Christ because He has called you. See what I'm saying? Did you
know anything about calling until you found yourself in Christ?
I know. It wouldn't have done you any
good if I had come to you and told you about God's necessity
of calling you. Looking in retrospect is when
we learn these things, ain't it? As you and I read the Scripture,
speaking of calling, let's take it first. As you and I read the
Scripture, we can't help but see there's two kinds of calling
in the Scripture. One is a general call, and the
other is a particular call, an effectual call, if you will.
A general call is explained to us in these scriptures. In Acts
17, verse 30, God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. That's what we call a general
call. That's in the scriptures, and
it's to everybody. God commands all men everywhere,
without exception, to repent and believe the gospel. Go into
all the nations and preach the gospel to every creature. But
you know something? Even though that's a call, how
many obey that call? How few obey that call? In Proverbs
chapter 1, Solomon says it like this. Well, the Lord says it
like this. Turn you at My reproof, and I will pour out My Spirit
unto you, and I will make known My ways unto you. Now, that's
a call. And it goes out to everybody.
And God is sincere when He makes this call. But listen to what
the very next verse says. Yet I called, and you refused. I stretched out my hand, and
no man regarded, but you said it in all my counsels, and would
none of my reproof." A general call can be resisted. A man can hear it and go on about
his merry way and never be concerned about it. Come now, Isaiah says
in 118, And let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins
be as scarlet, they'll be as white as snow. What a call that
is! What a call! But if you refuse
and rebel, you shall be devoured. That's a general call. And how
many refuse and rebel? Most do, don't they? Most do. But that's a general call. But
here is also an effectual call. An effectual mean it has the
power to gain the end that God desires. And listen to these
scriptures. John chapter 6 verse 37 and verse
44 and verse 45. Very familiar scripture to some
of you. The Lord Jesus says, All the Father gives to me shall
come to me. All the Father giveth me shall
come to me. See that call? Not perhaps they
will come. They should come. No, they shall
come. And in verse 44 and verse 45
of that same chapter, he explains to us in more detail why they
come. Listen to this. It's written
in the Prophets, and here's what's written. They shall all be taught
of God Every man that hath heard and learned of the Father, what
does he do? Well, he goes on about his merry
ways. Or he may come and he may not come. No, every man, every
one that hears and learns of the Father, he comes to me. See that effectual call? And
Brother Glenn in our Sunday School class this morning read in Romans
chapter 8, in those verses, All things work together for good
to them that love God, to those who are the called according
to His purpose. And then He went right on to
say those He foreknew, He predestinated. Those He predestinated, He called. And those He called, He justified. Every one of them. So see, there's
a special calling. There's a particular calling. Some people have told us and
contended That in this gospel day, there is no more than just
a general influence that's gone out into all this world. That's
all it is, just a general influence. And it's no more powerful to
one than it is to the other. And it's not really the influence
that makes the difference, but it's you cooperating with this
influence. That's not what Paul says. That's
not what the Bible says. He says here that you may know
the hope of His calling. His calling. It's not a mere
influence. That's a lack to all. This is
the call of God, and it comes to you. And Paul said, how did
it end for you? while you trusted Christ. It
ended in your being raised from the spiritual grave of sin and
death. That's how it come to you, Paul
said. Peter was preaching to those on the Day of Pentecost,
and he said this, the promise isn't to you and your children,
and as many as be afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call." And Paul was writing to the Romans. And he said, you
are the called of Jesus Christ, beloved of God, called to be
saints. And he was writing to the Corinthian
church and he said this, you see your calling, brethren, not
many wise men. Not many mighty, not many noble
are called. Now, if this was just an influence
sent out unto all the world, and what determined whether you
were saved or not was your mere cooperation with that influence,
wouldn't you think the wise and the mighty and the noble would
cooperate before everybody else? After all, they're the wise folks,
you know. But it doesn't happen that way. Paul said, you see,
you're calling, not many wise men are called. Not with this
effectual call. Not with this special call. God has chosen the foolish things. This is God's doing, ain't it?
This is God's calling. It's His calling. And He calls
the simple. He calls the unlearned. He calls
the poor. And He calls them and He saves
them for this reason, that no flesh will glory in His presence. Ain't that wonderful? And that's
what Paul is writing here to these Ephesians. And he said
there in 1 Corinthians, we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews
a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto
you which are called. Christ is the power of God, and
Christ is the wisdom of God. And as these young Ephesians
begin to read this, His calling, His calling, and they begin to
think about this as you and I do, they remember some of their friends, just like you and I do. They heard the gospel, at least
with their ear, just like we do. They've been warned, just
like we were. But I have friends, and you have
friends, that are not only still unconverted, they're still unconcerned. And what made the difference? Why did you come to Christ? And
they made this wretched choice that they had rather starve than
come. Well, here it is. There's only
one scriptural answer, brothers and sisters, and it matches your
experience perfectly. God called you. He called you in particular. He called you specially. He called
you effectually. He called you irresistibly. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. I don't know of another blessed
truth that not only fills me with gratitude, but it fills
me with awe that I'm a Christian. I'm a believer this morning.
I have come to Christ. I fled from my sins and that
darkness and I've laid hold upon the Lord Jesus Christ. All because He called me. That's all I attribute it to.
No, it's not an influence that I cooperated with. God called
me to it. We don't make ourselves Christians,
brothers and sisters. It's not natural for a man to
come to Christ and give himself up to be saved by Jesus Christ. No, that's not natural. If you've
done that this morning, do you realize this? Has this ever dawned
upon you? You've done it because God has
called you to it. Ain't that amazing? Well, He
let many go by and resist and rebel and fight against Him,
and let them go on to perish in their sins. But not you. Not you. He's drawn you. He's put His finger upon you.
And when you begin to kick and rebel, He wouldn't give up. Oh,
you struggle and you wrestle with Him. But He kept His hand
pressed upon you and would not let you go, would not let you
die. You were clawing your way to
destruction. But He says, No, hitherto shall
you come, and no further. You are Mine. I have redeemed
you, and the time of love has come. And He draws you, and He
chugs you, and He gently forces you. Ain't that wonderful? And you owe it to one thing.
He called you. Ain't that wonderful? Do you
know that? Oh, you say, Bruce, I believe that. I've been taught
that doctrine most of my life. No, have you experienced it?
A man may be taught it. These men heard it from the Apostle
Paul. But Paul said, has it ever dawned
upon you experientially? Do you know it in your hearts
that this eternal God, the everlasting God, the sovereign Lord, has
been so mindful of you in your perishing state that He's called
you. I'll never get over that. I'll
never get over that. And lastly is this, the hope
of His calling. Do you know, do you realize,
has it ever dawned upon you that He's called you, that He's called
you in particular, a special calling? That's why you come
to Christ and believe, don't cry. And now the hope of His
calling. God did not call them without
a purpose, dear old Matthew Henry said. He called them to a sure
and certain hope. It's been said three things about
a hope. Let me explain it to you like this. And every one
of these is so sure, they're so certain. When the Bible talks
about hope now, it's not talking about, well, maybe so. Hopefully
so. But when the Bible talks about
hope, it's something that's sure. It's something that's steadfast.
And there's three things about a hope. Now listen to this, and
you'll agree with this, I know you will. Three things about
a true Christian hope. There's the ground of that hope.
The foundation of that hope. And you know what that is? The
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the ground or foundation
of hope. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, hope in Christ, That's the foundation of our
hope in Christ. He is our hope. Paul was writing
to Timothy. He said, I'm an apostle of Jesus
Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and Jesus Christ
who is our hope. Lord, what wait I for? David
said. My hope is in you. Christ is our hope. Christ's
back yonder in eternity, saying, Father, I'll go be in a charity.
Christ in our humanity, suffering upon Calvary's tree, being punished
for our sins. Christ yonder in glory, our forerunner. And Christ in us, the hope of
glory. Christ is the foundation of our
hope. Do you realize this, brothers
and sisters? Do you know how sure your foundation is? How
certain it is? Dear old Edward Mote, He wrote
that precious song that you and I sing so often. My hope is built
on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not
trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. And then he says this in the
second verse, when darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on His
unchanging grace in every high and stormy veil my anchor holds."
Where? Within the veil. Within the veil.
And then he says there in the third verse this, His oath, His
covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood when all
around my soul gives way. All right then. What are you
going to do now, Brother Moat? All around your soul has give way.
He says, I've done thought this through. I know where my hope
is. There's no doubt about it. When
all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope. And He has these two little words,
and stay. He's the anchor. He's the foundation. He's the rock. He's the rock. our hope. And then secondly,
there is the grace of hope. The foundation for hope is Christ,
and there is the grace of hope. Peter said, Gird up the loins
of your mind and hope to the end for the grace that is to
be brought unto you. And Paul said, We are saved by
hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man sees,
what is he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see
not. That's the grace of hope in us.
We live by hope. We live hoping, don't we? Hoping
for an inheritance. We live by this grace of hope. And you know something about
this grace in our hearts? It can increase. You ever go
just about all day long, and boy, you were so hopeful. You
were so cheerful. Now I'm happy all the day. But
the next day, oh my Lord, why are you cast down, oh my soul?
Why are you just to hope thou in God? But you find yourself
not being able to hope. It don't burn as brightly because
this hope, this grace can diminish and increase. But you know something? It can never die. It can never
die. Why? It's a grace. It's a grace. Where did that grace come from?
It comes from the Lord of all grace. And He began it in your
heart. And you know what He said about
the work that He began? He'll complete it. He'll finish it until the day
of Jesus Christ. It's God that worketh in you
both to will and to do of His good pleasure. For grace is begun,
heaven is won. Glenn, you talked about it this
morning. They'll never pluck Him out of my hands or my Father's
hands. What I've given from them is
eternal life. I've gave it to them and I'll
never take it back. And nobody's ever going to take it away. Brothers
and sisters, as I sat there this morning and Brother Glenn told
us about this, I thought to myself, I wish all of us would just believe
that. And that's what Paul is telling
us. Do you know this? That He's called you and the
foundation of your hope is sure and this grace of hope within
you is sure? God has not called you and He's
never called any man or woman just to hang them out there and
to put them on probation to see if they could make it. He knows
us better than that. I've called you for this glorious
end, is what he says. I've called you to this wonderful
hope. And I give you a foundation of hope, and I put my grace of
hope in you. And you may live in the full
assurance of it too. And then lastly is this, the
object of our hope. The foundation of our hope is
Christ. The grace of hope that's within us, we hope. And then
there's the object of our hope. And let me sum it up just saying
it like this. Of all the things we could say about the object
of our hope. We'll get into this next week.
But if you summed it all up in one verse, it would be this.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God. It don't yet appear what
we shall be, but we know, there's what Paul is saying, Do you live
in this reality? Do you live in the assurance
of this, the knowledge of this? We know that when He shall appear,
we shall be like Him. Every man that hath this hope
purifies himself. We look for the Savior who shall
change our vile bodies and fashion it like unto His glorious body. That's our hope. That's the object
of our hope. God has called us to this hope. Let not your hearts be troubled,
our Lord said. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. It's a
big heaven. My Father has a big house. If
it wasn't so, I would have told you. I'm not going to lie to
you. I'm not going to deceive you. I'm here to tell you the
truth. In my Father's house are many mansions. And if I go there
to prepare a place for you, I'll come again and I'll receive you
unto myself. That where I am, Father, I would
that they that you've given me be with me where I am to behold
my glory, yes, and to see it, yes, and to share in it too.
My glory to be with Him. That's our hope. To be with Him,
to be like Him while eternal ages roll. Never again to look
upon Him with undimmed eyes, never to again sin, never to
again sin. That's our hope. How sure is
it? How sure is it? As sure as God
can make it. Look here at one scripture and
close. Look at Hebrews chapter 6 and I'll read this to you and
we'll close. Look at Hebrews 6. Look in verse 10. His hope is not only sure, but
God would have us to live in the assurance of it. In verse
10, God is not unrighteous to forget your work and your labor
of love which you have shewed towards His name, in that you
have ministered to the saints and do minister And we desire
that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full
assurance of hope until the end. Don't be slothful. Be followers
of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
But when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear
by no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Blessing I will bless
you, and multiplying I will multiply you. So after Abraham had patiently
endeared, he obtained the promise. For men barely swear by the greater,
and an oath to confirm it is to them an end of all strife,
wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heir of promise
the immutability, the unchangeableness of his counsel, his purpose,
confirmed it by an oath. that by two immutable things
in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of our soul,
both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within
the veil. Whether the forerunner is for
us entered, even Jesus, maiden and high priest forever, after
the order of Melchizedek. Oh, what a glorious calling.
What a holy calling. What a hope. What a hope we're
called to. May God bless His Word. Let's
pray.