SERMON MANUSCRIPT 

The first fourteen verses of Ephesians speak of God’s grand plan to redeem all things in Christ. At his first coming, Christ brought redemption to humanity as the Suffering Servant. At his second coming, he will bring redemption to the cosmos as its King and Judge. 

And we’re living between those two events, both celebrating and anticipating, thankful for what is and hopeful for what will be. A time is coming when the curse will be forever lifted, Satan will be finally defeated, and sin’s presence will be ultimately removed. No more frailty, anxiety, or vulnerability.

But we’re not there yet. We’re still soldiers dodging bullets in this war. We’re still sojourners braving the elements of this desert. We’re still sinners enduring the world, resisting the devil, and fighting the flesh. We know where we’re going, but we’re still en route, and the journey is dangerous and we are vulnerable, weak, and frail.

And that’s why, in verse 15, Paul turns from praise to prayer; from worshipping God for his wisdom to asking God for his help. And we, like the Ephesians, need it. You do, and I do. We need guidance and protection, enablement and provision. We need to pray what Paul prays here and understand that we have all we need to endure, to thrive, and to bring God all the glory he’s due.

Now, the first thing we notice is that this prayer is marked by thanksgiving. Paul has heard about the Ephesians and their “faith in the Lord Jesus” (1:15) going vertically and their “love for all the saints” extending horizontally, and he’s grateful. [1:16]

It’s a sweet thing to be able to pray this way. I know because that’s how I prayed for you all summer. I prayed for the elders, thankful for their hearts. I prayed for the many who serve, thankful for their willingness. I prayed for new-comers, thankful for the assembly that I knew would welcome them, love them, and point them to our Lord.

Now, just because we’re thankful for someone, doesn’t mean they don’t still have needs. The Ephesians were a faithful and mature, but still needy and, what they needed, according to the Apostle, was a divinely granted and progressively deepening understanding of the God they served. He writes, “I ask our Lord to ‘give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him’” (1:17).

Paul doesn’t start by praying for health, security, zeal, growth, or endurance—none of which are bad. Instead, he begins by asking God to give his children more knowledge of himself. Everything else is downstream from there.

I can attest to this, and you likely can too. The more you know the consistent character of God, the more you trust him, serve him, rest in him, and can’t wait to see him. I hope and pray that that is your life’s ambition: to know God the Father and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit; to meet him day after day, learn of him, and be awed by him.

Paul prays, thankfully but urgently, that the Ephesians would grow in their knowledge of God. And he gets specific as he writes. There are three elements in particular that the apostle wants them to understand, each one introduced by the word, “what.” Look at verses 18 and 19: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe.”

Paul wants these saints to grasp the hope to which they’ve been called, the inheritance that awaits, and the power they now have. Hope, inheritance, and power. Know those things and you will stand firm.

Hope in the past

First, there’s hope, “the hope of his calling.” In the past, the Ephesians were called by God and were (verse 12) among “the first to hope in Christ.” They, like all who trust in Christ, immediately possessed redemption through his blood (1:7), forgiveness of trespasses (1:7), grace lavished upon them (1:7–8), and were sealed in Christ by the Spirit (1:13). Done deal! The more they know God the more they can celebrate “the hope of his calling.” 

Can you? Do you know what it cost God to save you, to redeem you? Do you know the debt you owed because of your sin? Do you know the anguish of your Saviour on the cross? Are you growing in your understanding of the new birth and conversion and what it means that you were brought from death to life, from darkness to life? Do you know the God who sealed you in his Son by his Spirit? Do you know the grace that has been lavished upon you?

If you do, then it’s no problem to serve him, to understand that you’re a slave to Christ, that he purchased you with his blood. To grow in your knowledge of the hope of his calling is to grow in assurance of salvation, adoration of your Saviour, and dedication to his service.

Inheritance in the future

Second, inheritance. Paul wants the Ephesian Christians to grow in their understanding of “the riches of the glory of his inheritance [that is, God’s inheritance] in the saints.” God is redeeming a people for himself, a people holy like he is holy and, when all is made right, we become his prize, a God-glorifying trophy of his grace and power.

In addition to that, believers also await an inheritance. Verse 14 says that the Holy Spirit was given to us when we believed “as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession” (1:14). We’ve been granted a down-payment that guarantees the full sum in glory.

So, not only are we part of that which God inherits but we await a heavenly inheritance. Do you know that? Do you know your worth? While the world wants to tell you that you’re no good because you don’t look a certain way, act a certain way, or are skilled in a certain way, the God of the universe says that you are his inheritance. He sent his only begotten Son to die for you, to make us a kingdom of priests, to wash us, cleanse us, and ready us for eternity with him who is our prize.

And do you feel underwhelmed with your lot in life? Well, guess what, know that you’re heading toward an inheritance of heavenly wealth and joy that you can’t now comprehend. This life is a vapour and eternity awaits with reward and glory. The more we know these things, the more we are free to live with joy and gratitude, eagerness and confidence, purpose and security. 

Power in the present

So, Paul prays that the Ephesians would understand more and more the hope they exercised in the past and the inheritance that awaits in the future. That leaves one more element to this prayer, and that’s the power we have in the present. And, just by sheer volume, it seems this is the one Paul really wanted to get to. [1:19]

Paul’s not talking about earthly, natural power. This is heavenly and supernatural. It’s “his power” (1:19)—God’s power. And Paul stacks up the synonyms to describe it: [1:19] He doesn’t do this to differentiate types of power but to emphasize the power of the power: Like its source, this power is limitless and beyond quantification. It’s “surpassing greatness.”

This is the power that spoke light into existence and separated the waters with a word. This is the power that creates life, sustains life, and ends life. This is the power that saves sinners, enlivens bones, and renews hearts. It’s the divine power which was seen, verse 20, “in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.” This is resurrection power and work, ascension strength and might.

And we need it because, again, we’re still in the fray. In fact, having been placed in Christ, having been aligned with him, we are targets of his opposition. We know where we’re heading, but we’re not there yet. Soldiers, sojourners, and sinners need divine aid. As Paul writes in chapter [6:10–11].

Do we realize how overmatched we are, left to ourselves? We are not strong enough, disciplined enough, resourced enough, or clever enough to win a single skirmish—let alone a battle or war—against the world around us, the devil about us, or the flesh within us. We will fail to temptation. We will speak sinfully. We will act shamefully. We will stumble and fall, tear down what’s good, fight against what’s right, and bring shame to the name of our Saviour at every turn. Satan is manipulative, mighty, and motivated. We are weak, foolish, and fickle. We are untrained pre-teen children at the frontlines of a nuclear war.

We need power outside of ourselves. We need to be armed with supernatural weaponry. And we have it because the “power … working … strength … [and] might” God provides is, verse 21, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.” Notice how the four-fold strength eclipses the four-fold opposition. 

Christ, with resurrection and ascension power coursing through his veins, is placed over all that opposes him, indeed “every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” His power knows no match and no bounds, even time.

Paul prays, “Lord, help these believers understand, comprehend, the extent of your power, the matchlessness of your might. And then, help them know that they have access to it today!” [1:19] 

And then, looking back at Christ, seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly places, far above everything for all time: [1:22–23] 

If Christ is strength incarnate, measurelessly and incomprehensibly powerful and authoritative, and if believers are not only in Christ but part of the church that has received Christ as its Head, is attached to Christ as his body, and is filled with Christ “who is all in all,” do we have power? Can we “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might”? Can we “stand firm against the schemes of the devil”? Can we resist temptation, endure trials, and run with endurance the race set before us? Yes and amen.

God has given us all we need for life and godliness—hope in the past, inheritance in the future, power in the present. The question is, do we know it. Do we comprehend it? Do live in light of it? Are we praying prayers like we need it?

We don’t want knowledge for knowledge’s sake. But we want to know our God the way we want to know our best friend, spouse, child, or parent. We want to know them because we love them and they fascinate us. We want to know them because the more we know them the more equipped we are to serve them, stand by them, and brag about them. 

I want to encourage you to pray this prayer for yourself, your family, and your church family. We want to be faithful to our Lord. We want to be useful to our Lord. And, to do that, we need to know our Lord. We need to stand unflinching in the hope of our calling. We know to whom we belong. We know we are forgiven. 

We need to be rooted in the anticipation of our inheritance, untethered from the cares and snares of this world, eager to get what’s been promised and be what’s been prophesied. 

We need to fight bravely in the strength of his might. We need to wield resurrection power, resist the devil, war against sin, and don’t given an inch to anything that brings shame to our Lord. We’ve been given the power to do so—but it’s not ours. It’s his.   

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