The Eyes of Our Understanding
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:15 – 2:7
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the
saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the
glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power
toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked
in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the
heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the
church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once
walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once
conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even
when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have
been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Last week we talked about the cost of being a disciple of Christ. We also talked
about a disturbing trend where 90% of those who say they’ve made a choice to
follow Christ, turn back to the world and fall away. We discussed the fact that new
believers many times haven’t considered the cost which may be a factor in them
falling away. Today we’ll be considering how we can safeguard ourselves and
those we disciple so we don’t become a part of those statistics. In our scripture
reading today Paul begins by telling the Ephesians that he’s praying for them
regarding two particular things. First, he prays that the Father give them wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Next, he prays that the eyes of their
understanding be enlightened that they may know the hope of His calling.
These two points of prayer are very important because just as the LORD’s prayer
gives of a model of how to pray, these prayers by Paul give us a model of what we
can pray for, especially as a new believer. We can all agree that wisdom and
revelation knowledge of God is a good thing to have. Many believers would say
that they don’t understand the Bible or they don’t understand the Father’s
motivations for certain things. Well James says that we have not because we ask
not (James 4:2). Paul’s prayer shows that not only should we be praying for
wisdom and revelation knowledge for ourselves, but we should also pray for those
thing for those whom we disciple. Sometimes we get discouraged when we are
witnessing to someone but they don’t seem to be getting it, but are we taking the
time to do like Paul was doing here by praying for them for very specific things?
Now, next he prays that their eyes of their understanding be enlightened that they
may know the hope of His calling. How many Christians sit in church pews around
the world feeling like they don’t have a defined purpose in Christ? It’s easy to pull
away from something when you don’t feel that you belong. When I was a member
at a traditional church I always liked sitting as close to the front as possible. I felt
like I could hear better and was able to get more out of the experience. But there
were always people who would, it seemed, made a point of coming in late, sitting in
the back or in the balcony, and leaving early. It was like they were making a point
of not connecting. Those people would disappear for weeks or months at a time
and no one would really notice. With me, if I were missing from the front, people
would notice. God doesn’t want us sitting in the back row in the kingdom of
heaven. He has a purpose for us all. It says in Proverbs 16:4, The LORD has
made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. So, if He
has a purpose for the wicked, you know He has a purpose for you. Unfortunately,
most people don’t know their purpose because they’ve never inquired to find out
what it is, being content on the back row. Many people are afraid to ask what God
wants them to do because they’re afraid God will ask them to do something they
don’t want to do. You know, they’re afraid God will tell them to be a missionary in
Africa. Ironically, that’s a trick of the enemy because if God has given you a
purpose, He has also given that desire to you in your heart. I remember when I
was asked to work with the youth I was terrified. I just wanted to help but didn’t
think I’d enjoy it. Boy was I ever wrong. It was like I was created to work with
youth, I loved it so much. Finding your purpose in Christ is such a crucial part of
staying rooted and grounded in Him.
Paul then tells the Ephesians something that, unfortunately, many believers never
take the time to consider. Well, first he tells then that Yahweh has raised Yeshua
and seated Him in heavenly places far above all powers and principalities putting
all things under His feet. He is large and in charge! That’s great news but here’s
the part that should blow your mind. Paul says that God has taken us from a state
of being dead in our sin. That’s more of that kingdom thinking. Everyone alive is
really dead, except for those of us who have chosen to die to self; to crucify the
flesh. That part is enough to knock your socks off but that isn’t the really mind
blowing part. God has raised us up with Christ and seated us in heavenly place
with Christ Jesus. Did you catch that? We ‘have been’ (past tense) raised up and
seated with Messiah in heavenly places. We, if we are in Christ, are already in
heaven. Which means we are already above all the powers and principalities that
have aligned themselves against our Heavenly Father. In Christ, all those things
the world wants us to believe are over us, are really under our feet.
This is something that you really have to have your kingdom glasses on to see.
So many are living their Christian lives in anticipation of going to heaven when this
scripture clearly says we are already there. We have got to stop living our lives
like we are being defeated. Philippians 4:13 tells me that I can do all things
through Christ who strengthen me. Romans 8:37-39 says this, 37 Yet in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things
to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are more than conquerors! That’s something to rejoice about. This is, if you
believe it. The enemy is going to bring everything he possibly can against you
that will cause you to doubt that. He knows that he can’t defeat you as long as
you are in Christ. His only chance is to get you to step down from the heavenly
places and back into the world. We did a Bible study a while back about the cities
of refuge in Israel. If you had killed someone by accident, according to law, that
person’s relative could choose to be an avenger of blood to kill you. However, if
you went to one of the cities that had been designated for refuge, you could go
and grab hold of the horns of the altar and make an appeal to the priest. As long
as you stayed in the city, the avenger could not legally touch you but the moment
you stepped out of the city gates you became fair game. Yeshua is our city of
refuge and as long as we stay in Him we are in safety. Our avenger is the enemy
and he will do anything he can to lure us outside the gates so he can pounce on
us.
This is why it is so critical for us to stop focusing on the natural and to start
focusing on the spiritual. We have to become spiritually discerning. This is war
folks, not against flesh and blood but against those powers and principalities. It
shouldn’t even be a fair fight. Jesus has been all power over everything the
enemy has to bring against us and He has given us the authority to use that power
in His name, but we have to prepare ourselves as any good soldier would. A
recruit doesn’t just come straight off the streets and get put into combat. The
recruit has extensive training on how to use his defensive and offensive weapons
so he can be effective in battle. We must do the same.
Ephesians 6:10-20
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we
do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of
righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16
above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being
watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for
me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the
mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak
boldly, as I ought to speak.
And how do we get that spiritual discernment? We have to ask for it. James 4:3
tells us that we ask and don’t receive because we ask for selfish reasons. If you
ask for kingdom purposes you would be amazed at how many prayers you will see
get answered. And as those kingdom prayers are getting answered guess who
would be reaping benefits? That’s right, you would!
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: November 19, 2006
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:15 – 2:7
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the
saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the
glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power
toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked
in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the
heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the
church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once
walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once
conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even
when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have
been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Last week we talked about the cost of being a disciple of Christ. We also talked
about a disturbing trend where 90% of those who say they’ve made a choice to
follow Christ, turn back to the world and fall away. We discussed the fact that new
believers many times haven’t considered the cost which may be a factor in them
falling away. Today we’ll be considering how we can safeguard ourselves and
those we disciple so we don’t become a part of those statistics. In our scripture
reading today Paul begins by telling the Ephesians that he’s praying for them
regarding two particular things. First, he prays that the Father give them wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Next, he prays that the eyes of their
understanding be enlightened that they may know the hope of His calling.
These two points of prayer are very important because just as the LORD’s prayer
gives of a model of how to pray, these prayers by Paul give us a model of what we
can pray for, especially as a new believer. We can all agree that wisdom and
revelation knowledge of God is a good thing to have. Many believers would say
that they don’t understand the Bible or they don’t understand the Father’s
motivations for certain things. Well James says that we have not because we ask
not (James 4:2). Paul’s prayer shows that not only should we be praying for
wisdom and revelation knowledge for ourselves, but we should also pray for those
thing for those whom we disciple. Sometimes we get discouraged when we are
witnessing to someone but they don’t seem to be getting it, but are we taking the
time to do like Paul was doing here by praying for them for very specific things?
Now, next he prays that their eyes of their understanding be enlightened that they
may know the hope of His calling. How many Christians sit in church pews around
the world feeling like they don’t have a defined purpose in Christ? It’s easy to pull
away from something when you don’t feel that you belong. When I was a member
at a traditional church I always liked sitting as close to the front as possible. I felt
like I could hear better and was able to get more out of the experience. But there
were always people who would, it seemed, made a point of coming in late, sitting in
the back or in the balcony, and leaving early. It was like they were making a point
of not connecting. Those people would disappear for weeks or months at a time
and no one would really notice. With me, if I were missing from the front, people
would notice. God doesn’t want us sitting in the back row in the kingdom of
heaven. He has a purpose for us all. It says in Proverbs 16:4, The LORD has
made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. So, if He
has a purpose for the wicked, you know He has a purpose for you. Unfortunately,
most people don’t know their purpose because they’ve never inquired to find out
what it is, being content on the back row. Many people are afraid to ask what God
wants them to do because they’re afraid God will ask them to do something they
don’t want to do. You know, they’re afraid God will tell them to be a missionary in
Africa. Ironically, that’s a trick of the enemy because if God has given you a
purpose, He has also given that desire to you in your heart. I remember when I
was asked to work with the youth I was terrified. I just wanted to help but didn’t
think I’d enjoy it. Boy was I ever wrong. It was like I was created to work with
youth, I loved it so much. Finding your purpose in Christ is such a crucial part of
staying rooted and grounded in Him.
Paul then tells the Ephesians something that, unfortunately, many believers never
take the time to consider. Well, first he tells then that Yahweh has raised Yeshua
and seated Him in heavenly places far above all powers and principalities putting
all things under His feet. He is large and in charge! That’s great news but here’s
the part that should blow your mind. Paul says that God has taken us from a state
of being dead in our sin. That’s more of that kingdom thinking. Everyone alive is
really dead, except for those of us who have chosen to die to self; to crucify the
flesh. That part is enough to knock your socks off but that isn’t the really mind
blowing part. God has raised us up with Christ and seated us in heavenly place
with Christ Jesus. Did you catch that? We ‘have been’ (past tense) raised up and
seated with Messiah in heavenly places. We, if we are in Christ, are already in
heaven. Which means we are already above all the powers and principalities that
have aligned themselves against our Heavenly Father. In Christ, all those things
the world wants us to believe are over us, are really under our feet.
This is something that you really have to have your kingdom glasses on to see.
So many are living their Christian lives in anticipation of going to heaven when this
scripture clearly says we are already there. We have got to stop living our lives
like we are being defeated. Philippians 4:13 tells me that I can do all things
through Christ who strengthen me. Romans 8:37-39 says this, 37 Yet in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things
to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are more than conquerors! That’s something to rejoice about. This is, if you
believe it. The enemy is going to bring everything he possibly can against you
that will cause you to doubt that. He knows that he can’t defeat you as long as
you are in Christ. His only chance is to get you to step down from the heavenly
places and back into the world. We did a Bible study a while back about the cities
of refuge in Israel. If you had killed someone by accident, according to law, that
person’s relative could choose to be an avenger of blood to kill you. However, if
you went to one of the cities that had been designated for refuge, you could go
and grab hold of the horns of the altar and make an appeal to the priest. As long
as you stayed in the city, the avenger could not legally touch you but the moment
you stepped out of the city gates you became fair game. Yeshua is our city of
refuge and as long as we stay in Him we are in safety. Our avenger is the enemy
and he will do anything he can to lure us outside the gates so he can pounce on
us.
This is why it is so critical for us to stop focusing on the natural and to start
focusing on the spiritual. We have to become spiritually discerning. This is war
folks, not against flesh and blood but against those powers and principalities. It
shouldn’t even be a fair fight. Jesus has been all power over everything the
enemy has to bring against us and He has given us the authority to use that power
in His name, but we have to prepare ourselves as any good soldier would. A
recruit doesn’t just come straight off the streets and get put into combat. The
recruit has extensive training on how to use his defensive and offensive weapons
so he can be effective in battle. We must do the same.
Ephesians 6:10-20
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we
do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of
righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16
above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being
watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for
me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the
mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak
boldly, as I ought to speak.
And how do we get that spiritual discernment? We have to ask for it. James 4:3
tells us that we ask and don’t receive because we ask for selfish reasons. If you
ask for kingdom purposes you would be amazed at how many prayers you will see
get answered. And as those kingdom prayers are getting answered guess who
would be reaping benefits? That’s right, you would!
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: November 19, 2006
