The Hope of His Calling
PPT 1
Eph 1:18 [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,
Wolves are one of the animals where the parent will eat some food, partially digest it, and then regurgitate it to feed their young. You see the pups can't eat what mom and pop eat without a little help. So it is with the scriptures, we need help in digestion.
We need help, because we are not used to eating meat. Many Christians prefer the sweets and snacks of scripture. Sweets and snacks are those scriptures that talk about whats in it for me. The meat of the word are those scriptures that talk about the person, nature and work of the triune God - Father, Son, Holy Ghost. This text in Ephesians combines both.
Sweets are ready to eat out of the box. Meats require preparation.
Sweets require little or no action to enjoy. Meats require additional steps.
Let's break this text in Ephesians down.
PPT 2
The Prayer of Paul has 3 Parts
A prayer for enlightenment
Knowing what the hope of His calling is,
Knowing what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints is.
The first two are fairly straight forward, and will go through them quickly. The third thing is the one I want to key in on.
1. A prayer for the eyes of your heart to be opened.
Paul was writing this to Christians.
Peter James and John thought they knew Jesus then they saw him tame the raging sea. What manner of man is this...
Then they saw Him glorified on the Mt. Of Transfiguration. A bigger revelation of Him.
John thought he knew Jesus then he saw him on Patmos.
John thought he knew Jesus then he saw him in Glory.
I believe 2,000 years later John is still getting amazed at revelations of Jesus.
2. The hope of his calling
Hope in the bible means something far different than the way we understand it.
For us hope is something you wish will happen but you have no real assurance it ever will.
Biblical hope however, is something that is set in stone, and because of that you have strength to endure and continue on.
PPT 3
Heb 6:17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.
Heb 6:18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.
Heb 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
3. Knowing what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints is.
PPT 4
Show video of Susan Boyle
That video has so many lessons on so many levels. God looks at the inside man the outside.
7,000 knees that haven't bowed to Baal. (God has secret jewels)
For us today the lesson is this: the eyes of their understanding were blown open to see what was inside that woman.
Lets look at our text again:
Riches of glory.
Riches: ploutos ploo'-tos
1) riches, wealth
1a) abundance of external possessions
1b) fulness, abundance, plenitude
Riches of glory:
Glory: doxa dox'-ah
splendour, brightness
magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace
majesty
Of His inheritance.
Property received by an inheritance. So we are talking about riches, wealth, and abundance of spelendour, brightness, dignity, grace and majesty that God will receive. Receive from who? Where?
In the saints!!!!!!!
You say I am nothing special. I can't sing like that woman, I haven't done much in this life.
All that does is prove you need the eyes of your understanding opened to see what is there.
PPT 5
Col 1:27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Hope is not a wish, but a rock solid gurantee of the sureness of a thing.
PPT 6
Nu 23:23 "For there is no omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel; At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what God has done!
Nu 23:23 No magic spells can bind Jacob, no incantations can hold back Israel. People will look at Jacob and Israel and say, "What a great thing has God done!" (The message)
PPT 7
2Th 1:10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed — for our testimony to you was believed.
Jesus is going to be glorified for what He has done in and through you!
Christ in you the hope of glory. Go ahead Jesus. Have faith in God.
You will be amazed when God rolls the tape:
Every cup of water given.
Every person forgiven.
Every sacrifice made.
Every time you beat down your flesh.
Every encouragement offered to others.
Every prayer lifted in secret.
But my sins, but my failings, but my errors. They won't ever be mentioned or remembered.
Yes we are sinners, but if you have been born again you have an awesome Savior living inside you, and we will all one day marvel of what the Lord has done in us.
