A Prayer For Wisdom

0:16Thank you for listening to the Sermon Audio Podcast for Crossroads Bible Church in Rockdale, Texas. Crossroads Bible Church is a Reformed Confessional Baptist Church that meets every Lord's Day at 10 a.m. for Bible study and 11 a.m. for corporate worship. For more information about our church and for directions, you can find us online at www.crbcrockdale.org. Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Y'all go ahead and turn your in your Bibles to Do I need to say it? The book of Ephesians. Chapter one. We're going to cover verses 17 to 19. And this morning, uh by way of introduction and for those who are taking notes and trying to form a mental outline of this section of the text, our objective this morning, Lord willing, is that we would know the scriptural mandate here of how we should direct our prayers both for ourselves and for others, focusing on the wisdom of God and the Spirit revealing the truths about God. More specifically, then, that the Spirit would reveal this wisdom to us, or that the Spirit's revealed wisdom to us, contains the revelation of the hope of our calling, the riches of our inheritance in Christ, and the greatness and the power of God. The thesis, I guess you could say, or theme I want to give you this morning is this that through prayer, the Holy Spirit gives wisdom and revelation concerning the nature and truth of God, which is our source of power for life and godliness. Through prayer, the Holy Spirit gives wisdom and revelation concerning the nature and truth of God, which is our source and power for life and godliness. And that's what, Lord willing, we will pursue this morning. And I know everybody's been here, I think, for the past few weeks, so I don't really need to review necessarily, but it is a little bit difficult for me just to jump into verse 17 to 19 without making certain you remember where we are here. Verse 17 through 19 that we're reading this morning is a continuation of where we were last week, which is verse 15 and 16, this prayer that Paul has begun to pray or to articulate how he is praying. And then verse 15 and 16 and following is a continuation really of the fullness of 3 through 14. Right? This is the therefore or the for this reason that we talked about verse 15 starts with. Okay, so the grounding then is the sovereignty of God. This is what I have been adamant about, really through the entirety of the book of Ephesians thus far. The grounding is the sovereignty of God who supplies to us all things. Okay, spiritual blessings, election in Christ before the foundation of the world, holiness, blamelessness. He provided us adoption, he provided redemption through the blood of Christ, forgiveness of our sins, grace, wisdom, insight, union with Christ, inheritance, the Holy Spirit, it is all a gift from God, and in and through his sovereignty according to his will. All of these were given to us by a great and merciful God. That is our grounding. And because these Ephesians believers, as we've talked about, trusted in that God and those promises. They trusted in that Lord Jesus Christ and none other, who provided all of those things. Paul hears of that faith that has been manifested to them so clearly. And Paul thanks God in prayer for their faith and for their faith working through their love. And that was what we talked about last week. That's also Galatians 5, verse 6, if you're if you're keeping notes. This then, this morning, is the continuation of that prayer that Paul started last week, that is grounded in the weeks past, that Paul is making on behalf of these believers and all believers. So this is somewhat unusual for me, but I'm gonna ask you to stand now. We're gonna read the text, and then I'm gonna finish with a little more introduction before we get into the meat of it. But let's let's read our text this morning. It's Ephesians 1, verse 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power towards us who believe, according to the working of His great might. This is the word of the Lord. Would we plead and petition for that wisdom this morning, Lord, for the revelation of this knowledge, and then through our hearts, Lord, that we would know what you have for us, Lord, and apply it properly. Ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. The spirit of wisdom. This is a prayer, then, for wisdom, for the revelation. And this prayer of wisdom and revelation that Paul brings forth this morning contains three specifics of wisdom. But I wanted to read that text first so that you could see it. And before getting into those three specifics, I want to point out how meaningful and important it is that Paul is praying here for wisdom for the saints. For wisdom for the saints. This is verse 17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of Him. Let me give you some supporting passages that demonstrate the necessity and the importance of wisdom. There are many. Proverbs 3, verse 13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom and the one who gets understanding. The gain from her is better than gain from silver, and her profit is better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her wisdom. Proverbs 4, verse 7. The beginning of wisdom is this get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you. She will honor you if you embrace her. Again, wisdom. Wisdom, then, and I think this is the testimony of Scripture, apart from Christ and our redemption in Christ, is our most prized possession. An insight should be right with her. Wisdom, then being the knowledge or the substance of how to live under the submission of God. This is the fear of the Lord, is the beginning of wisdom. And insight is our ability to discern, to make distinctions, to clarify, to perceive, to be thoughtful in the wisdom that we have. Proverbs 2, verse 2, make your ear attentive to wisdom and incline your heart to understand or insight. Proverbs 2 verse 6, the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Okay, wisdom and insight. And Paul has already told us in verse 8, if you remember, that by his grace he has lavished upon us, it says, in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will. Again, he makes known that his prayer for the believers is that the Father would grant us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of what? His prayer is that God the Father would by the Spirit make us, them, but us also, more wise, and give us greater knowledge and insight about what? Himself.

10:17About himself.

10:22And this is indeed intertwined with the mission of Christ, isn't it? By becoming the image of the invisible God and fully accomplishing his priestly ministry, right? Satisfying the wrath of God and making propitiation for our sins, he would make known to us the purpose of God. He would bring us back into fellowship and give us the wisdom and insight of that redemptive plan. And there's this knowledge, then, this wisdom and insight requires the third person of the Trinity. This is why we are, among many reasons, why we are Trinitarian. This knowledge requires the third person of the Trinity, giving us this wisdom, imparting to us this insights into these truths of our salvation and of our sanctification. Eternal assurance requires the same continual outpouring of the Spirit, the Spirit who gives wisdom and insight. This is Galatians 3, verse 3. Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? And this is rhetorical, of course not. It is an act of the Spirit, having begun our salvation and sanctification, justification, glorification in all of the works. So then we must have wisdom from God for both salvation and life, and our prayer should always be that our gracious Father, by his Spirit, would give us wisdom. But what are the particulars of this wisdom? What is this wisdom that we are to pray for? What are those things which Paul asks God to enlighten his people particularly of and about? And there's three that are given, and that's where we'll spend the rest of our time this morning, starting in verse 18. Having the eyes of your heart enlightened, hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which you which he has called you. That you may know the hope to which he has called you. So the first is the hope of our calling. This is the first aspect of the wisdom that we are to get received by the Spirit is the hope of our calling. I want to point out to you, though, here again that Paul is making clear that to know these things, this hope of call of our calling and all that follows, we need to have the eyes of our hearts enlightened, he says. This is contrasting what he will say later in chapter four, of the unbelieving Gentiles who he says still walk in the futility of their minds and whose understanding is darkened. They're ignorant, he says, they're hard-hearted. We pray then that our gracious God replaces our darkened ignorance with grace-illuminated hearts, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened. So again, we return to dependency upon the Spirit. But the hope of our calling, this is the first aspect. I would venture to guess that at first reading that, the hope of our calling, it is not in your mind as profound as it actually is. Maybe you do see how profound it is, but by the Spirit, I hope you see it this morning. This hope that he speaks is nothing less than our foundational hope of salvation in and through the work of Christ. This is the hope. The foundational hope of salvation in and through the work of Christ. This is a point that Paul's been laboring all throughout Ephesians, the eternal assurance of our salvation in Christ. And so he returns again to the hope, but let's not mistake this hope for a wish or prayer or some vain hope. This is a sure hope of full and final salvation that has been purchased by Christ with his blood and sealed for us by his Holy Spirit. But specifically, Paul says that the hope to which he has called. What is the hope to which he has called you is what the ESV translates. The KJV and the NAASB render this as the hope of his calling, which I think is a better translation. So I'll give the NASB a win on that one. The hope of his calling. Which is to say, one aspect of this wisdom is that Paul is praying that believers would be grounded in the hope, that is the assurance of God's calling. So what is this call? If we are to be grounded and assured in this hope of this call, what is the call? In the Bible, there are two distinct types of calls. There is a general call, and there is an effectual call. Acts 17, verse 30. This is the general call. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. This is the general call to all mankind to repent from sins, to turn and to trust in the provision of the Father for salvation, namely Jesus Christ. But this is not a sufficient grounding of our hope, this general call, because many, all in fact, are called in this manner, but not all find eternal life. Matthew 22, verse 13. Then the king said to the attendants, bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen. So Paul is not generally calling. That's not how we're being grounded here. We're agreeing grounded in the effectual call. This is the call that Paul is talking about here in Ephesians, the call of God for his people. That always brings his sheep to the pasture and always ends in glory. Always. Romans 8 30. To those whom he predestined, he also called. To those who called, he also justified, and to those who justified, he also glorified. This call always ends in glory. This is the calling that we hope in. This is the calling that we find assurance in that God alone has called us. That he by his power has saved us. That he by his power is keeping us. He is transforming us. And he will bring us to glory. Our hope is that as believers, those who trust in Christ have been effectually called by a loving Father, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glory. What shall we say to these things then? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies, who is to condemn. Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that who was raised who is at the right hand of God who is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of God in Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or the sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all of these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. That's Romans 8 31 to 37. What a blessed hope, then, this call of God is. And if it is God who calls, and it is the God who justifies, who shall ever condemn him? If it is the plan and purpose of God in which we hope, what charge shall ever be brought against us?

19:59Because the hope is grounded in a perfect. How can you be more than a conqueror? Or more than conquerors? What does that mean?

20:14A man in his own strength, a man in his own will and his own determination may very well and certainly does conquer in certain areas of life. But when our hope is in the call of God, when our hope is outside of ourselves, and in the one in whom and to whom every knee will bow, then we are indeed more than conquerors. And we'll surely be raised up with him on the last day. So that's the first aspect of the prayer is that the Spirit would reveal to us the hope of his calling, and that we would be empowered to a confident life and assured of salvation in that truth. The second then is the riches of his inheritance. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? There is a prayer that we have read a few times in these fellowship meals that we've had at our house from time to time. I'm not going to read the whole thing, but I do want to give you a flavor of it, pun intended. I'll just read it. In the celebration, in celebrating this feast, we declare that evil and death, suffering and loss, sorrow and tears will not have the final word. Let our feast this day be joined with those sure victories in Christ. Let it be Be to us now a delight and a foretaste of his eternal kingdom. Bless us, O Lord, in this feast. May it strike at the root of the lie that would drain life of meaning. May this our feast fall like a great hammer blow against that brittle night. For the resurrection of all good things has already joyfully begun. May this feast be an echo of that great supper of the Lamb and a foreshadowing of the great celebration that awaits the children of God. Now you who are loved by the Father, prepare your hearts and give yourselves wholly to this celebration of joy, to the glad company of saints, to the comforting fellowship of the Spirit, and to the abiding presence of Christ who is seated among us, both as our host and our honored guest, and still yet our conquering King. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, quoting from Isaiah 64, But as it is written, what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor heart imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him. The prayer then by Paul for us is that the believer, by the power of the Spirit, may be made more and more aware of these glories that await us. That we may have more and more glimpses of the riches of this inheritance that we have been called to and given. That each moment for us would become clearer and clearer a window into these eternal blessings that have been secured for us, and that we may know more and more what is the wealth of joy and happiness and fellowship that has been prepared for us. Some of the guys are reading a book called The Enemy Within by Chris Lungard. And he says this in, I don't remember the chapter, I didn't write it down. I think it's five or six. Quote, remember that the mind is the watchman of the soul. Its duty is to discern and judge what words, actions, desires, thoughts, beliefs, and emotions will please the Lord. The affections, when they are working as they should, long for and long for and cling to what the mind says is pleasing to God. This is the reason that Paul says in Philippians, after telling us that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, this is Philippians 4, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ, he says, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about those things. How often do our minds spiral and stay in the pits of doubt, self-loathing, bitterness, pity? This is where our sin and our enemy desire us to be and to stay, but the great hammer blow against the brittle darkness of sin is the joy in the reality that the resurrection has already begun. When you by grace through faith were buried with Christ in a death like his, when you were raised to walk in a resurrection like his, you were sealed by the Spirit. And you were given the riches of his glorious inheritance. You have a seat at the marriage supper, the eternal feast, where joy and laughing never cease. And when you actually take time to consider these things and pray that by the Spirit the revelation of these truths will press upon your heart and mind, then you will be moved to act in accordance with our hope and joy. I read an opinion, I also firmly hold to this opinion, that much of the greatness and the blessing that we have in this country today, in large part was from and through the evangelical awakening of the 18th century, certainly the Christian roots from which it blossomed. Why? Because when men and women know and ponder the true meaning of things, when they are spurred on by the hope of eternity, the joy from that, the riches of their inheritance, they try to make the world they live in conform to the joy, hope, and blessing where they are going. This is solely the power of the Spirit working through the renewal of our minds as we consider the riches of our blessed inheritance. So the second part of the prayer, then, after having been given the assurance of our hope, our calling, is to be empowered to live through the revelation of the riches of his glorious inheritance.

27:52Finally, then the greatness of his power.

28:01And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe according to the working of his great might? Lloyd Jones makes a very important point here that I will I will emphasize. He says that this prayer by Paul is not that we may have knowledge and then increased power in and of ourselves, but that we may be given greater knowledge and insight, right? Wisdom into the power of Christ that is already working in us. Remember that thesis that I began with. Through prayer, the Holy Spirit gives wisdom and revelation concerning the nature and truth of God and his gospel, which is the source of power and life for us. The revelation then given by the Spirit is not to unlock some hidden potential within you, but rather to see the immeasurable greatness of his power working in accordance with his great might. Again, I hate to burst your bubble, but it's not about you. I'll give you an illustration. As a kid, did you ever do this, or did you ever see this done, a small kid, smaller kid, maybe being picked on by a bigger kid? And the smaller kid says with great confidence, oh yeah, well, my dad can beat up your dad. Heard that? You said that. I think maybe I did. There is confidence there, not in oneself, right? But in someone greater on their behalf. This is the revelation that we need to see, and that we must pray for that when the wretched enemy, our flesh, or anyone else, or anything else tries to push us down, we can defer and must defer to the immeasurable greatness of his power, not our own. And if you have a high view of God as we should, and in that view contemplate his holiness, his goodness, his perfection, if you sit with the revelation of the hope of his call, the glorious riches of his inheritance, and then you compare that to your own life, where do you find yourself? Despite his goodness, I still fall. Despite his faithfulness, I am still unfaithful. Despite his blessings, I take them for granted. Despite his warnings against sin, I still do it. Despite my best efforts, I still fall short. And could never be worthy of all that is offered in Christ. Never. Wretched man that I am. How can I possibly be saved? How can I possibly overcome sin? How can I possibly persevere? That God would give us his wisdom to know what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work in you. Philippians 2, verse 9. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And he continues, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work his good pleasure. This is what we must see, and know that our union with Christ, our salvation by which we are quickened to new life and transferred from darkness to light, require nothing less than the mighty mountain-moving power of God. To think that we could be saved simply by reciting a prayer or walking an aisle makes far too little of God and far too much of us. I know myself. If you're honest, you know yourself, and I know many of you. It took an unspeakable power to rescue you. And it will take that same power to continue in you that you may overcome and reach that promised glory. By raising Christ Jesus from the dead, the Father communicates that he alone has that power. And that same power is promised to you. There is nothing, not even death itself, that will prevent God from fulfilling his purpose in you. Oh, you trust in that power? By the Spirit of Wisdom, I pray that you know that you have that power. So, in conclusion, then true prayer. Through this prayer, the Holy Spirit gives wisdom and revelation concerning the nature and the truth of God.

33:40Which is the source of our assurance, power for life and godliness.

33:47Through giving us wisdom in the effectual call of God, our hope is grounded outside of ourselves. We have confidence not in ourselves, but in the sovereign God. Through giving us wisdom in the riches of his glorious inheritance, the darkness of our days is turned to light as we consider the joy and the blessings that await us, the victory that has been won, the security that even now is ours to enjoy. And then through the giving of us wisdom and the greatness of his power, we can stand firm against the enemy.

34:28Through his strength.

34:31We can be bold and courageous knowing that he has already conquered all of our enemies. And if it is if it is his power that justifies, who will ever condemn us? This is the greatest prayer we can pray for ourselves and for others. Make us more aware of your wonderful works that we may have assurance, hope, confidence, joy, courage, not in ourselves, but in the triune God who's loved us, who's called us, who saved us, and who will glorify us. Amen. We thank you, Lord, for your wisdom and the insight that you give us by and through your spirit, Lord. We pray this prayer this morning, Lord. Lord, would you by your spirit give us these things, Lord? Would you give us these revelations?

35:38That we would trust in you above all things, Lord.

35:44We would trust in your call and the joy of the inheritance that you are giving to us, Lord. The security that has offered to us in and through your strength and your might. May we come away from this text this morning, Lord. Pouring all of our confidence and assurance into you. Trusting in you alone. To continue to save us, sanctify us, and ultimately to glorify us, Lord, help us. I ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.